Quarrels
by shadowarwen
Summary: When Harry comes to visit the Burrow during summer break, Ron and Harry seem to do more fighting than anything else. Molly thinks she knows the reason behind it...and isn't sure how to feel.
1. Quarrels

A/N: You know the drill. I don't own Harry Potter or anything that even remotely has to do with Harry Potter. It all belongs to JK Rowling.

My friend Katie was the one who actually convinced me I should write a slash story. And this isn't really slash, more a precursor to it, I guess. I had some reservations about actually posting this, but my beta-reader Nita was the one who finally gave me the courage to do it! And she's not a big fan of slash fics, as some of you know. I'm very nervous about this, so I hope you guys like it. And, if you don't like it, please don't read it.

This is a one-shot with the possibility of a continuance if the story gets some positive feedback.

Harry is 15, Ron is 16.

Summary: When Harry comes to visit the Burrow during summer break, Ron and Harry seem to do more fighting than anything else. Molly thinks she knows the reason behind it…and isn't sure how to feel.

……...

Harry sat on the hard bench staring with remorse at his swinging feet. He'd been having a great time at the Weasley's, he really had. For a while at least, but all good things must come to an end, or so they said.

……………………..

A month before school began the Dursley's decided they were going to go on a mini vacation. Without Harry. They had begrudgingly called the Weasley's to see if they could take the wretched boy in. They were well aware of the fact that Harry wasn't allowed to stay at the Dursley's by himself. If they even acted like they were going to step out the door without Harry in tow they got the life scared out of them by an angry witch or wizard reading them the riot act. Even with wards up and working, it was best if he stayed within Petunia's grasp at all times.

So, knowing they'd be slaughtered on site if they didn't have the boy with them, they'd decided to let Harry go spend the rest of the Holiday with a 'friend.' Despite the fact that this would make the boy extremely happy, they had allowed it in order to have some happiness of their own. Without Harry.

A day later, with Dumbledore's permission, Harry found himself with a small bag standing in the kitchen of the Burrow. He'd been ecstatic. A month without his bloody relatives, what more could he possibly ask for?

A week into his own little vacation, Harry and Ron had been getting along just fine. The twins were minding their own business, nothing had exploded, and Ginny kept mostly to herself. The fighting started, of all things, over a game of chess.

Harry never won a game against Ron. So, the one and only time it happened, Ron had actually accused him of cheating. It was preposterous. It had been sheer luck on Harry's part, but Ron had been too irritated to care. Ron had been tired that night, Harry knew. When Ron was tired, Ron was irritable. It must have been a red-haired thing. As the evening progressed, Harry had decided not to take Ron's accusation to heart. He would apologize in the morning he thought for certain.

Ron did apologize. But over the course of the next few days, the two had begun to fight over stupid things, usually with Ron's persuasion, occasionally with Harry's too. They fought over who got the first biscuit at breakfast, they fought over what radio station to listen to, they fought over who sat where at the kitchen table or on the living room couch. They even fought over who Harry wrote his letters to when he had dared to respond to an inquiry from Seamus asking how he was doing after the events of the previous school year.

It was constant yelling and badgering and Harry silently wondered what was happening to their friendship. He believed he had done something wrong because they had never fought over such trivial things before. It was ridiculous what they fought over and Harry was beginning to think it was his entire fault. That their friendship was falling apart and there was nothing he could do to fix it. Any attempt so far had failed.

He wanted to stop fighting.

He just wasn't sure how. He'd tried ignoring the redhead or walking away when Ron started in on the younger boy, but no matter how hard he tried, he still ended up arguing with him just on sheer annoyance alone.

So, it came as no big surprise when he and Ron really went to blows over another letter from Seamus. It was utterly stupid that Ron seemed so angry over some stupid letters. Honestly, what was the big deal? Was he actually jealous that he and Seamus might become better friends than he and Ron were? Well…at the rate they were going, Harry thought they just might. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

Harry had been reading another of Seamus' letters in his and Ron's shared bedroom when the older boy had come in. Upon seeing who the letter was from, Ron had gone off on another tangent for reasons Harry still couldn't seem to fathom. It was so strange to him that his best friend was jealous over him corresponding with Seamus Finnegan of all people.

Ron had yelled at Harry about going and staying with Seamus if he was so 'buddy buddy' with the other boy. He even went so far as to threaten to kick Harry out of the Burrow. At that precise moment, the twins had decided to stick their heads into the room to see if they could stop yet another fight between the two boys. It was virtually useless, the fight had begun and their little brother was being his usual irrational self.

However, Harry wasn't in the mood to fight anymore. He stomped down the stairs and into the living room. Ron followed hot on his heels, followed by the twins. Mrs. Weasley had sighed in irritation, having been well on her way to being fed up with the two boys. When the heated fighting came into her living area, she threw her hands up in frustration. That was when Harry pushed Ron away from him, as the bigger boy had been crowding his space, and incidentally made his friend knock over an antique vase that Molly's mother had given to her on her wedding day.

That had been the last straw for Mrs. Weasley. It had been decided then and there that Harry would have to go back home. Harry had tried to apologize again and again for messing up, he even promised his friend's mum that he would help around the house. She had regretfully shaken her head, telling him that Harry's going home was also a punishment for Ron. Harry didn't quite understand how that could be a bad thing in Ron's eyes, but he just let it go. He was going back home. That meant the Dursley's had to come back from their 'mini vacation.' That definitely didn't bode well for the small green-eyed boy.

…………………………………

That was how Harry found himself sitting on a hard bench at the train station, waiting not so patiently for his Uncle to come and pick him up. The Weasley's were still there waiting with him. After all, he couldn't be left unattended for his own safety.

"Harry, sweetie, what time did your Uncle say he'd pick you up?" asked Mrs. Weasley. She sat across from the small boy on another uncomfortable bench. She looked at her watch and back at the forlorn looking child across from her. She felt awful about sending him home, but it was for the best. Not only could she not overlook the constant arguing and fighting the boys had continued to do, but she was beginning to think she understood why Ron had been so callous to his best friend. She also knew she wasn't sure how she felt about it yet.

"He said he'd be here around noon, Mrs. Weasley," he said sadly. He glanced up and caught Ron looking at him from beside his mum. Ron quickly averted his eyes. Harry sighed.

"He's a bit late. Is that normal for him?" she asked, having only met the man a handful of times. She wasn't fond of the man, that was for certain, but he did strike her as a timely man.

"Sometimes," whispered Harry. He wondered if his Uncle had decided to go get plowed before he picked his nephew up. It wouldn't be the first time, but he hoped the man would have the intelligence to not do it in front of his friends. Well, he wasn't so sure if he still had them as friends. Ron wasn't talking to him and didn't seem upset in the least that he was being sent back home. The twins were on Ron's side just due to the fact that they were brothers. It was what brothers did. Harry had not and would never have the opportunity to know what that kind of loyalty felt like.

Just as Harry was beginning to wonder if his Uncle had just plain forgotten him, he felt the overbearing presence of his Uncle standing slightly behind him. From behind him, Harry felt as the man put his meaty hands on his slim shoulders and squeezed. He flinched.

"What's the meaning of this?" asked Vernon, his breath letting Harry know that the man wasn't drunk. That was one thing in his favor, he hoped. "We had an agreement that Harry would stay with you for the rest of the summer."

Harry wasn't surprised his Uncle was trying to argue against what was happening. He had yelled and screamed at Harry on the phone when he'd called the man to come and pick him up at the train station. Still, it was embarrassing to Harry as he watched Mrs. Weasley's face turn into a stern expression. He was in so much trouble when they got back home.

"Yes, we had decided that. However, the boys couldn't seem to get along," she explained to the much larger man. "I apologize that we had to disrupt your vacation, but nothing I did seemed to help. I think it is best if we separated them for the rest of the Holiday. Wouldn't you agree?" she asked, thinking the man would most definitely agree once he realized the boys had been misbehaving when in each other's company.

"So, you couldn't control him?" asked Vernon, squeezing Harry's shoulders just a little bit more. Harry fought the grimace that wanted to show on his face.

Molly frowned. "Well, not necessarily. It was just difficult to keep the two occupied without one or the other getting into an argument," she tried to explain again. "They fought over the strangest things and even broke a family heirloom. That was the last straw for me," she said, still looking very upset.

Harry did cringe then, but not in pain. He felt awful for breaking the older woman's last gift from her mother. He knew it could be fixed, but that wasn't the point. The point was that he and Ron had gotten so rowdy and uncontrollable that they had become mildly destructive. He couldn't blame her for wanting to get rid of him.

Vernon grimaced. "Just the same, I still need you to keep the boy. I can't simply break up my family's vacation because you can't control two stupid boys," he said, emphasizing his words with a small shake to Harry's now tender shoulders. Glancing up, he saw that Ron had clenched his teeth at the insult.

Molly bristled. "Excuse me?" she said heatedly, upset on both the boy's behalf's. "These boys are far from stupid," she said, "and I'm quite capable of keeping them both in line. It's the fact that having Harry at the house is a privilege for Ron that was the deciding factor. I can't have the two of them constantly at each other's throats."

The large man finally released his hold of Harry's shoulders, but Harry watched warily as he came around the bench to stand beside him now. Standing up cautiously, Harry assumed it was time to go. But, his Uncle stopped him once more by placing one beefy hand on his shoulder. Harry sighed. "This is how you keep the boy in line," he said suddenly.

Before Harry knew what was happening, his Uncle had spun him around by his sore shoulder and backhanded him across the face. Sprawling halfway onto the hard bench, Harry lay stunned and unmoving. At first there was absolute silence, and Harry wasn't sure what to expect. His Uncle had just hit him in front of the Weasley's. His friends, the people he considered more as a family than he did his actual relatives. He briefly wondered if they condoned the violence his Uncle had just struck him down with as the silence stretched on and on. Maybe they thought he deserved it after the way he had acted at the Burrow. He thought he could feel his heart breaking.

He could just imagine the smirk Vernon must have on his face as he looked at the red headed family with glee. He always did get a little too much enjoyment out of hurting Harry. The silence seemed to last an eternity to Harry, but in reality it had only been less than a minute. After that, the silence was broken.

"You bloody bastard!"

Harry was shocked. That was Ron. He thought if any of them would have been less than upset at what his Uncle had just done to him, it would be Ron. They had been fighting like cats and dogs for the past week. But, if anything, he thought Ron sounded frighteningly pissed off.

A strong hand wound into his hair, yanking his head up violently. That was the last thing Vernon had the chance to do though, as Mrs. Weasley stunned him with a voice filled with venom. "Harry, sweetie, are you okay?" she asked, kneeling down on the concrete floor.

Shaking his head to try and clear the fog that had come over him, he got his arms beneath him and tried to lift himself off the bench he was lying on. He felt gentle hands wrap around his upper arms to help guide him and assist him into a sitting position. He kept his gaze lowered, too embarrassed to meet anyone's eyes.

"Harry?"

It was Ron. Harry wasn't sure what to think about his best friend. Apparently he wasn't as angry at him as he'd thought. Of course, watching your friend get smashed in the face could change a person's perspective on things. He certainly wouldn't have been happy to see someone hurting Ron, no matter how mad he was at him. He could only hope that Ron would feel the same way. And apparently he did.

"Yeah?" he asked softly, eyes still lowered to the ground. He could just barely make out the shape of his Uncle's arm lying limp on the ground beneath him. He couldn't believe the man had actually struck him in public.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Harry nodded lightly. His head was starting to feel like it would explode. "Sorry about all this," he muttered quietly. Was he still expected to go with his Uncle, he wondered. Would they really make him go still?

"Let's get you back to the Burrow, Harry. I'm sorry I even brought you here," said Molly to herself. She put one hand around the boy's back and helped him to his feet. Ron was on his other side instantly, wrapping his arm around Harry's waist in order to help. "I've got him, Mum," he said.

"Are you sure?" she asked, clearly wondering if this was such a good idea. Seeing the concern in her youngest son's eyes, however, and she knew Harry was in good hands.

"Yeah, I've got him," he told her plainly, pulling Harry closer to his side to better support his weight. It wasn't as if his friend weighed much to begin with, but this was the excuse he was going to use. Why else would he want to hold Harry so close to him? There was no other reason. There wasn't.

The journey back to the Burrow was uneventful, if not extremely quiet and awkward. Mrs. Weasley had stayed behind to deal with Harry's Uncle while insisting her children take him back home to rest. No playing around either. Harry was to go straight to bed.

It wasn't long before Ron was pushing open his bedroom door and escorting his best friend into the room and directly to the cot they had set up for him. "Slowly, now," insisted Ron, helping to ease his still unsteady body onto the bed.

Once Harry was seated, he curled up into a small ball and cushioned his head on a fluffy pillow.

"Thanks," he whispered, still feeling embarrassed about all that had happened earlier that day.

Ron shrugged. "Wasn't nothing," he said. "Sorry your Uncle smacked you," he added a moment later. Curiosity was making him start a conversation he wasn't sure Harry was ready for. But, perhaps getting him to talk would be better for his younger friend. He honestly hadn't thought the man would ever strike the green-eyed boy, but obviously, he'd been wrong.

Harry closed his eyes, trying to ignore what his best friend was trying to get him started on. He didn't want to talk about this with anyone, let alone the boy he'd been arguing with for the past week. If he actually cared, why did he wait until something bad happened to him to show it? Harry rolled over and faced the wall instead of his friend.

"I'm tired, Ron," he said evasively. He heard a sigh and then the silent footsteps as the teen trudged out of the room.

Releasing the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, Harry shifted slightly until he could see the door. It was closed and Ron was gone. A small part of him was beginning to wish his friend had tried harder. Not sure where that extremely odd thought was coming from, Harry rolled back over and fell asleep.

……………...

It wasn't until something cold and unpleasant feeling touched his face that Harry woke up. He jerked away from the unknown substance that was touching him and sat up in bed, looking and feeling bewildered. "What?" he mumbled, not fully awake, and began to wipe at the wetness on his face. He brought his hand back down to see what it was only to discover something clear and slightly slimy.

"It's for your face," said a male voice, causing Harry to look up. He stared incoherently at Ron's father for the space of a second before he realized why he would need a slimy substance rubbed on his face.

"Did it bruise?" he asked slowly, still waking up.

Arthur sighed and scooped up another small handful from the jar before going for Harry's face again. The boy had rubbed off what he'd just put on. "Yes, it bruised," he answered, leaning forward into Harry's personal space. "Does it hurt too badly?"

Harry shook his head and tossed his blankets off. "No," he answered, brushing the man's hand away. "It's okay. It's not that bad."

Arthur knew this was an embarrassing situation for Harry but hopefully he would feel more comfortable talking about things later.

"Where's Ron?" he asked, standing up and stretching his arms above his head.

Arthur stood up when Harry made no move to get back into bed. "He's downstairs having breakfast. Molly sent me to wake you, actually. That's when I noticed you needed something for your face," he explained, walking with the younger boy towards the stairs. "Are you hungry?"

Harry thought about it for a second. "I could eat, I guess."

When they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was instantly on her feet and pulling out a chair. "Have a seat, sweetie," she said, not waiting for him to get all the way to the table before she was bustling over to him and guiding him to his seat. "Are you hungry? Would you like some juice? We have bacon, would you like bacon?" she said it all so quickly that Harry had to watch her mouth to make sure he understood.

"Uh, bacon is fine," he answered, glancing at everyone else's plates to make sure that was what they were having too. He didn't want to cause any more trouble for the woman than he absolutely had to.

As he was reaching forward to spoon a helping of hash browns onto his plate, he felt eyes watching his every move, but before he could even start to feel annoyed, Ron tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"Sleep well?" he asked, shoving another piece of bacon in his mouth while he waited for Harry to answer.

Harry grinned. "Yeah, I did. You?" he asked.

It wasn't beyond Harry's notice that the other boys and Ginny were watching him cautiously. They wanted to know more about what had happened the day before, and Ron was trying to keep the center of attention away from it. He let a small smile grace his face at the thought. Maybe they were finally over all of that bloody fighting.

…………………..

The 'no fighting' truce with Ron lasted all of three days before they started arguing again.

…………………..

"What is with you lately?" asked Harry, slamming his book closed as he got to his feet. "Can't I have a moment to myself without you coming in here acting like a prat?" he yelled, figuring if Ron was doing it, so would he. "If you're mad at me, tell me! Don't just go around acting like an arse because you can't get up the steam to tell me you're pissed! All you do is yell, and it's about stuff that doesn't make any sense!"

Harry picked up his Potion's book and made to storm out their bedroom door. He didn't get much farther than the door before it was yanked open from the other side and Ron's Mum came in, arms folded across her chest, and looking quite cross.

"That's quite enough from the both of you!" she said sternly. "Sit down right now and close your mouths. I don't want to hear another word out of either of you!" she waved her finger in either boy's direction, indicating quite sharply that she wanted them to sit down on their respective beds. "I've had it!"

Harry went where he was told as quickly as his legs would allow. He wasn't going to risk Mrs. Weasley's wrath if he could avoid it. He worried, probably unreasonably so, that Ron's parents might take his Uncle's advice to heart. But, unreasonable as it may be, he still wondered what they would do if it really came down to it. "Sorry, Mrs. Weasley," he muttered, hoping to stave off any punishment. He briefly wondered if they regretted not sending him home when they had the chance.

Molly sighed at the look on her son's best friend's face. "Boys, this has to stop," she said in a voice less harsh than she'd been using before. "I don't know what's gotten into the both of you, but it ends now," she said quietly, though she thought she did know what the problem was. Instead of backing out of a potentially awkward conversation, she sat down on the bed beside Ron.

"Mum?" he asked, wondering why she was taking the time to sit with them. She usually just yelled, grounded them or gave them some sort of horrifying chore to do, and then stormed out of the room. But, apparently the tides had changed.

"I think we need to discuss this," she answered the unasked question in her child's voice. "I believe I might know what's going on between the two of you," she said. If she was wrong, she wasn't sure how she was going to back out of it.

"We said we were sorry," started Ron, but stopped at the look his mother was shooting him.

"I believe it was Harry who said he was sorry. You just sat on your bed with that indignant look you always get when you think you're being punished for something you didn't do," she stated with raised brows. "I've known you for 16 years young man; don't think I don't know your faces by now."

Ron sulked. "This is ridiculous. There isn't anything to talk about."

"I disagree," said his mother. "There is something obviously going on."

"And what do you think it is?" asked Ron, remembering his mother's earlier words. If she thought she knew so much about them, let her bring on her philosophy on what she thought was making them both fight so often. Ron was fairly certain she would be a mile away from what was really going on.

Harry had sat quietly on his bed as mother and son discussed the problem. He figured keeping his mouth shut and staying out of the way was the best policy.

Molly paused as she thought about how to bring this up with the boys. "Well," she started uncertainly. "How do you feel about Harry?" she asked Ron suddenly, causing both Ron and Harry to look up at her in confusion.

"What kind of question is that?" he asked. "He's my friend. And, even though we've been arguing a lot lately, I don't hate him or anything."

Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He had wondered for one brief moment if Ron was going to flat-out say he hated him. It wouldn't have been a surprise if he'd said it. It would have hurt like hell, but it wouldn't have surprised him. Just like it wouldn't have been the first time he'd cared about someone only to have them learn to hate him in return.

Taking a deep breath, Molly nodded her head. "Harry? What about you? How do you feel about Ron?"

Harry nibbled on his bottom lip as he pretended to ponder the question. Ron sighed irritably but with a slightly alarmed look on his face. Harry decided he'd better stop playing. "He's my best friend," he said as he watched Mrs. Weasley's face. "I don't know why we're always arguing though. I don't like to," he added as he fiddled with the blankets he was sitting upon. "We didn't use to argue so much."

Ron shifted uncomfortably on the bed beside his mother. "Yeah, I know," he said, watching Harry's face carefully.

It suddenly struck Molly that Ron knew what he was feeling towards Harry was more than just friendship, but that Harry was completely oblivious to it all. This made things a bit more complicated. She had assumed both boys were hiding behind the face of anger to disguise their true feelings. Obviously, it was just Ron using this defense while Harry went on in confusion.

"Harry, would you mind if I spoke with Ron alone for a moment?" she asked.

Harry looked up curiously. "We're done talking?" he asked.

"Well, for the moment. But, I will want to speak with you later on," she said and added quickly at Harry's concerned face. "You're not in trouble. I just need to speak with Ron alone."

Nodding carefully, Harry got up off his bed and left the room, all the while wondering what the woman needed to speak to Ron about that she couldn't say in front of Harry.

…………………………………..

"Why'd you send out Harry?"

Molly took in a deep breath. She never thought she would be having this type of conversation with her son. It didn't bother her, not in the least. So long as her children were happy, she was happy with their choices.

Instead of keeping on with sets of questions Molly decided to jump right in. "Ron, I know how you feel about Harry," she started.

Ron sighed. "Of course you do. I just told you how I feel about him," he said, exasperated.

Making sure her irritation wasn't showing, Molly turned fully towards her youngest son. "No, sweetie, I mean I _know_ how you feel about him," she emphasized her wording, hoping Ron would catch on.

He did. It wasn't a rare occurrence to see her children turn red, it happened quite frequently in fact. But, she'd never seen any of them as red as Ron was right at that moment.

"Mum, it's not like that," he started quickly. "I mean…well…it is…but, he doesn't know! And I'm not sure that I know, either. I mean, I'm fairly sure I like him more than just a friend, but it's all so confusing. He's my best friend! It shouldn't be like this…" he trailed off, realizing he'd just spilled his deepest and darkest secret to his mother of all people.

"Uh, Mum?" he questioned apprehensively. "I know you don't approve of this type of thing," he started, but never got a chance to finish.

"I don't disapprove, Ron. I think it's wonderful that you feel that way about him."

Ron sat staring at his mother in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Quite."

"You're not mad that I like another boy? That I like Harry? Harry is a boy," he pointed out. "A boy…not a girl."

"Yes, Harry is a boy," said Molly, a small grin showing on her face. "I do understand the difference."

Ron blushed. "Yeah…" he trailed off. "You're sure you're okay with this? I mean, what about Dad? Will he be okay with this?"

"I can't speak for your father, Ron, but I'm pretty sure he'll be okay with it, too," she told him, "You're father is fairly open with this type of thing. He has co-workers of the same orientation that you're discovering you are," she explained. "And he gets along with them just fine."

"But they're his co-workers Mum, not his son!"

Molly gently took Ron's face into her hands and kissed his forehead. "He'll love you no matter who you want to be with, sweetie."

Ron didn't say anything, but Molly could feel him relax a bit more. This must have really been eating at him. She wondered how long her son had kept this to himself, facing the fact that he not only liked his best friend, but that said best friend was a boy, and knowing his parents may or may not approve of it. No wonder he'd kept picking fights. Although, going after Harry probably wasn't the best notion the boy had ever had.

"Why did you keep fighting with Harry?" she asked, wanting to confirm her own thoughts on the matter.

Ron sighed deeply and let out a slow breath. "I'm not sure," he started uncertainly. "It was just so weird. I knew I liked him more than I really should have, and it seemed like it kept happening at the stupidest moments."

"Moments?" she asked.

"Yeah, like the time I found myself letting him win a game of chess just so I could see him smile. It was right after he got here and we were playing chess. After I let him win, I realized what I was doing and to play it off, I accused him of cheating. I didn't want him to know I'd let him win on purpose. It was stupid, I know, but it was the only thing I could think of. We've been fighting ever since. Any time I think he might get suspicious of me, I turn it into a fight."

It was all finally making sense. Molly realized what her son had been doing, but also knew he was hurting both himself and Harry in the process. But she could understand how he might want to try hiding the truth from not only Harry, but his family.

"So, is this the reason you fought the most with him when he wrote back to Seamus?" she asked, suddenly remembering those fights seemed to be the worse.

Ron turned a very dark shade of red. "It made me so jealous!" he said suddenly. "And it still does. Even thinking about him writing back to Finnegan makes me fume! I know he likes Harry, the little prat!" he said, his ire rising.

"Ronald Weasley!" she said, trying to calm the fire before it got out of control. "That is quite enough!"

He huffed, but finally managed to calm himself back down to a normal level. He couldn't believe how jealous he got over the Irish boy.

"Now," she started calmly, "Are you sure Seamus likes Harry, or are they just friends writing to each other?" she asked.

"No! I've heard him talking to the guys about it before. He wants Harry! And I know it's only for one thing," he said darkly.

Molly couldn't believe she was having this conversation. "Ron, you simply must calm down. Does Harry return these feelings for Seamus?"

Ron shook his head. "No, definitely not. Harry doesn't even know Finnegan likes him."

"Does he know you like him?" she asked.

Molly was beginning to think Ron would never turn a normal shade of color again. With the rate they were going, he would stay perpetually red.

"I don't think so," he said cautiously. "I don't think Harry thinks anyone would find him attractive. He really gets down on himself most of the time," he said softly.

Mrs. Weasley nodded her head. She knew Harry had lots of self-esteem issues. She also understood where that problem stemmed from. His relatives constantly degraded him and put him down. The boy didn't think he was worth anything at all. She silently fumed at the boy's relatives for ever treating him so callously.

"Do you know if Harry is attracted to girls? Or is he attracted to boys? When you tell Harry how you feel about it, it might be easier on you if you know how he might potentially feel about what you're telling him." Molly honestly wasn't sure if Harry was into boys or girls. The lad never spoke about anyone he liked, at least not in her presence. For all she knew, Harry was interested in some girl at school and Ron was barking up the wrong tree.

"I'm not sure, actually," said Ron, and he blushed an even deeper shade of red. "In the past he'd talked of liking a girl named Cho Chang, but I'm not sure how he feels about her now. She ended up going with Cedric to the ball last year, so I was hopeful he would forget about her…" he trailed off, embarrassed. "I just don't know."

Molly placed a comforting hand on her son's shoulder. "Sweetie, if that's the case, you might have to face that fact that Harry might not be as interested in you as you are in him," she said as gently as she could, but felt horrible when she saw Ron's face fall.

"I know. I've known it, at least. This is another reason I've been fighting with him all the time. I was worried if he found out how I really felt about him that he'd stop being friends with me. I can't lose him, Mum, even if I can only keep him as a friend. I'd miss him too much."

"You still need to tell him, dear. If you don't, you're going to lose him anyway. The constant provocations and fighting will eventually push him away. You realize this, don't you?" she asked.

Ron suddenly stood and began pacing the bedroom floor. "I can't tell him, Mum. He'd run away."

"And what do you think will happen if you continue with these lies? He thinks you don't like him, Ron. You'll only hurt him more if you don't tell him the truth."

"I don't want to hurt him!" insisted Ron, rubbing his hands together nervously. "But I don't know how to tell him, either!" he sighed. "What if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore?"

"If he stops being your friend over this, then he wasn't a very good friend to begin with. And you and I both know Harry won't stop your friendship over this. He might need some time and space to deal with it, but he won't disregard you," she said knowingly. Harry was nothing but a descent and loyal person, almost to a fault. He wouldn't turn his back on Ron no matter what.

Nodding his head, Ron sat back down on the bed with his mother. "I have to tell him."

Molly ruffled her son's hair before running her hand down to cup his cheek. "It will be fine. And remember that no matter what happens, I'm behind you all the way."

……………………..

Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen to find Harry and the twins sitting at the table in the middle of a game of Exploding Snap. Harry didn't seem to be particularly paying close attention to the game and, based on the looks from Fred and George, had been losing quite spectacularly.

"Harry?" she asked once he looked up and noticed her standing in the doorway.

"Do I have to go back to the Dursley's now?" he asked, his voice sullen.

Molly sucked in a surprised gasp and noticed the twins were looking equally disheartened.

"Heavens, no!" she exclaimed. Harry jumped at her raised tone and Molly eased her voice down immediately. "You won't be returning to your relatives, Harry. Not this summer, and if Arthur and I have anything to say about it, not for the next summer either. By that point, you'll be old enough to make your own decisions on where you live," she stated rather emphatically.

Harry eyes widened. "Are you serious? I don't ever have to go back if I don't want to?"

"We'll make it so you never have to return, Harry, mark my words," she said sadly. "Had we known how he truly treated you, we never would have allowed you to stay. We just didn't know."

At a look from their mother, Fred and George surreptitiously stood up and left the kitchen without Harry even noticing they'd gone.

"Has he always treated you so…harshly?" she asked cautiously. They'd been avoiding the subject with the boy, trying to wait for a time when he was ready to talk about it. Perhaps now was that time.

Harry shrugged, glancing towards the table and just now realizing that the twins were gone. "Just sometimes," he answered, almost feeling obligated to tell her now that she and Arthur were going to all the trouble of making sure he never returned to his relatives.

"Sometimes?" she persuaded.

"It wasn't an everyday occurrence or anything," he started, "but it happened often enough that I could tell when to steer clear of my Uncle."

Molly grimaced and walked towards the counter. Fetching two mugs out of the cupboard, she filled them with hot tea before placing one in front of Harry and then taking the seat across from him. She stirred the liquid within her mug as she listened to Harry's tale.

"How long has this been going on?" she asked, once he told her there had only been slaps and punches at the worst of times and the occasional pulled hair when he wasn't flaming mad.

"I don't know…" he trailed off, obviously not wanting to tell her something.

She could tell the boy was hedging and figured whatever he had to say was something she wasn't going to like. Not that she'd enjoyed what she'd heard so far, it was the exact opposite in fact.

"How early?" she asked again, knowing she'd left a little too much edge in her voice when he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Please, Harry, I just want to help you."

The silence stretched for what seemed like an eternity and Molly had just begun to think the boy wasn't going to answer her at all when he picked up his mug and took a deep swallow. She grimaced at how it must have burnt going down his throat, but he didn't seem to even notice.

"The first time I remember it happening was when I was three. I could have been a little younger, but for some reason it's always stood out in my memory. Dudley had left out some crayons and a coloring book on the coffee table in the living room. I'd never been allowed to have a coloring book, let alone a box of crayons, and my three-year-old curiosity must have gotten the best of me.

"I remember coloring very carefully in the book when Dudley came back into the room. He screamed and screamed at me and my Uncle came into the room and yanked me up by the arms. He took me into the hallway and smacked me until I was dizzy before shoving me in the cupboard under the stairs. I don't remember how long I had to stay in there before I was allowed out, but at the time it seemed like forever," he said, his hands wrapping around his cup to keep them warm. He felt chilled to the bone, but he doubted it was from being cold.

Molly reached across the table and took Harry's hands in hers, squeezing them lightly. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, Harry. It shouldn't have been allowed, but it was. But you don't have to worry about it anymore, dear. Arthur and I will make sure you never go back. Even if you have to stay with us, child, we'll never let you go back. I'm sorry you had to put up with it for as long as you did. No child should be put through that."

Harry shrugged, a bit uncomfortable with the way she was looking at him, but couldn't really help the sudden warmth that was spreading through his chest at the way she was trying to protect him.

"You don't have to keep me here, Mrs. Weasley. I wouldn't impose on you and your family. I appreciate you offering, but you don't have to. Especially with the way Ron and I have been fighting so much lately. I'm sure things will turn around eventually, but I doubt you'd want me here if we're constantly fighting," he said morosely, wishing that he could stay, but knowing he would be too much of a burden if he did.

"You're right, I don't have to keep you," Harry felt his face flame. He'd been right. "I want to keep you here. You're just as important to me as any of the children living in this house and I won't have you staying with that monster who calls himself your Uncle. I simply won't have it. Do you understand me?" she asked, her voice going stern all of a sudden.

The pain that had started to course through Harry's chest when Mrs. Weasley had first started speaking slowly started to ebb away only to be replaced with the warmth he'd felt earlier. It was nice to feel wanted.

"Now, I think Ron needs to talk to you," she said, making Harry's brow furrow.

"Oh…" he paused, clearly confused. "Aren't you going to punish me for fighting with Ron again?" he asked, unsure of what had transpired up in his best friend's room after he had left. He'd simply assumed there was a punishment in the making.

Molly sighed and shook her head. She really couldn't punish the boy, especially since he was an unwilling participant in the constant arguing. He'd merely fought back because he'd been pushed. "No, you're not in trouble. I'd like the fighting to stop, don't misunderstand me, but you're teenagers. The occasional fight is going to happen and we're just going to have to figure it out as it goes."

"Occasional?" mouthed Harry, clearly thinking there had been quite a bit more fights than the occasional one she had just mentioned. Molly didn't say anything though, knowing he still had no clue what was going on.

"Go on now, Ron is waiting."

Harry nodded, quickly finished the last swallow of his tea, and placed the mug on the counter before rushing upstairs. She watched him climbing the stairs with an uncertain gait and wished to all that was good in the world that he and Ron could figure out whatever was between them.

…………………………….

His knuckles rapped softly against the door, and Harry had half an expectation of Ron not even opening the door for him. He was a little surprised when it opened a moment later and Ron stood uncertainly on the other side. "Hi," he said, and all Harry could do was stare at him.

He waved one hand in greeting, as if they hadn't been living with each other for the past few weeks. "Your Mum said you wanted to talk with me?" he questioned as he walked in the door and took a seat on his cot.

"Yeah, yeah…I wanted to talk to you," he replied before mimicking Harry and sitting on his own bed across from the younger teen. "We need to talk."

Harry nodded. "I know," he answered with a touch of amusement in his voice. "But, what about?"

Ron began rubbing his hands together, a sign that showed Harry just how nervous his best friend was. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

The question caused the redhead to bring his eyes up in a startled fashion. "What?" then he noticed what he was doing and quickly trapped his hands underneath his thighs. "Yeah, fine, I'm fine."

Harry was beginning to get a little worried at the way Ron was acting. "Just tell me Ron. Are you okay? You're not acting right at all." He watched as Ron took in a very deep breath before slowly letting it out.

"I've got something I need to tell you and I'm not sure how you're going to react," he started, causing Harry to tense up.

"What is it then?"

Ron took another deep breath and bulled forward. "I…you…this is really difficult," he tripped over the words that tried to come out of his mouth. "I like you," he said so quickly he wasn't sure Harry caught what he said.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I know that. I like you too, remember, we're best friends," he confirmed, his forehead scrunching up in confusion. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Ron had to stop himself from venting out his frustration. Harry had misunderstood what he'd meant and he wasn't sure if he could get himself to just spit it out. "I like you more than that, Harry. More than best friends."

Brushing a hand through his dark hair, the younger of the two watched on in lingering bewilderment as Ron tried to sort out what he was trying to say. "More than best friends?" he asked, his eyes growing large as he started to figure it out. "What do you mean more than best friends?"

"Harry, I like you more…like more than when I thought I liked Hermione. That's how I like you more. Do you get it?" But Ron could tell that Harry didn't really understand. He could see it in his eyes. Harry was starting to understand, but he could tell the boy thought he must be coming to the wrong conclusions.

"More than Hermione?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, more than Hermione. You know how I felt about Hermione, right? Well, it wasn't really Hermione that I liked; it was just the idea of having a girlfriend. Everyone else was interested in someone, and I felt like I had to be too. But, I was never really attracted to her. I was attracted to you."

Harry stood up suddenly and roughly pulled his hair through his hands. "What?" he asked, his voice a little too high pitched, a little too panicked for Ron's liking. It was happening, the thing he'd feared most of all. Harry wasn't taking it well. Not well at all. He was going to hate him now.

He watched as his best friend got up and paced the room, his movements showing he had been thrown completely off balanced by his announcement. Then he stopped and turned back towards Ron, his stance completely rigid.

"I…I'm not sure how I feel about this Ron. I just don't know what to think. I can't say it back to you, what you just told me. I just…I don't know," he said and suddenly rushed from the room.

Ron watched in shock as the door slowly swung shut behind him. He'd blown it for good. Harry hated his guts, probably thought he was disgusting. He knew he should have remembered his Mum's advice to give Harry time after he'd just given Harry the news, but all he could think about was the look on his best mate's face when he'd fled the room. Harry didn't like him the way he liked Harry.

…………………….

Harry ran out of the house and straight into the woods, not stopping until he was completely out of breath and absolutely had to stop. He leaned tiredly against a large oak tree and stared out into the forest surrounding him. His mind kept spinning around the words that Ron had told him. _I was never really attracted to her. I was attracted to you. _

This was almost beyond his capacity to understand. Never in all of his wildest dreams had he ever even imagined that Ron liked him in that way, let alone that he liked Ron. It was just such a shock to hear and even more that it was his best friend. But, the more he thought about it the more he was surprised to find that he wasn't disgusted by it. It was shocking, no doubt about that, but he had always been taught by his relatives that that sort of relationship was disgusting and of the devil.

But he wasn't sickened of Ron, in fact, he was a little curious. He let himself slide down to the base of the tree and sat down on the cooling grass. With his back firmly against the rough wood, he pondered the revelation that was coming over him. Did he like Ron the way Ron obviously liked him? It was a definite possibility. He knew he liked Ron more than he'd ever liked Cho, but was that because of friendship or something else? He thought about what it would be like to actually kiss his best friend and felt a shiver rush up his spine.

So, maybe it was possible he did like Ron. He dropped his head into his hands and closed his eyes. He didn't know what he felt, but he was beginning to worry about how his sudden departure could have affected Ron. What if he thought he hated him now? He stood up shakily and started back for the house. He wasn't sure what he was really feeling, but knew he couldn't leave Ron with any doubt about their friendship if nothing else.

………………………..

When Harry got back to the house he found himself wavering at the front door. Should he go in and face his best friend, or should he wait and leave things until the morning? The mere idea of talking to Ron after the conversation they had just had left him feeling weak in the pit of his stomach. It was a rather odd sensation.

But, he knew that had their situations been reversed, he would have been devastated at his seeming rejection. So, he braced himself and pulled open the door. The kitchen was empty but he noticed now that Mrs. Weasley's mug rested on the counter beside his own. He briefly wondered where the woman was and could only assume she was upstairs with her son.

This made him worry that she might be mad at him. Angry that he had run out on her son and left him heartbroken, or worse, she thought the both of them were disgusting for even contemplating this kind of relationship. He wasn't sure how the Weasley's thought about this sort of thing, but if his own relatives were any indication, it couldn't be good. His resolve was steadily sinking and he wondered if he should even go upstairs at all.

Any and all thoughts bordering on hysteria were disregarded as he saw Mrs. Weasley coming down the steps and into the kitchen.

"Harry," she said it extremely cautiously, as if he were a startled animal on the verge of running away from a vicious attack.

"Yeah?" he asked uncertainly.

"Are you all right? Ron told me that you were upset."

Harry nodded his head, his movements coming automatically with no real thought behind them.

"Are you certain you're all right Harry? You don't act it," she continued, and Harry found himself just staring at her. He didn't know where his head had disappeared to, but he wished it would come back.

"Ron told you?" she asked.

Harry looked at her in shock. "Huh?"

She gave a small grin, grasped his shoulders, and gave him a small shake. "Snap out of it, dear."

Harry took in a startled breath and then let it out again very slowly. "Ron told me," he repeated her earlier words with a small sigh.

"And how do you feel about it?" she asked, wondering if she should be pressing the issue or just let the boy go upstairs to bed.

He stood in the middle of the kitchen floor and wondered that himself. Again. "I'm not sure," he said quickly before glancing up at Molly with a slightly frightened look on his face. "How do you feel about it?"

Molly couldn't help it, she laughed. All the fear vanished from his face as he watched her in consternation. "What?" he asked.

"You look as if I'm about a step away from turning into a three headed frog or something, Harry. You shouldn't worry so much. I'm fine with it, and even if I weren't, you shouldn't let what other people think get in your way. If you feel the same way, don't be frightened of it. If you don't, then just tell Ron and go in your own directions. He'll still be your friend no matter what. Just as I'll still care about you no matter what you decide as well."

Harry allowed a small smile to grace his face before he suddenly threw his arms around the woman's waist and hugged for all he was worth. "Thank you," he whispered, before rushing out of the room and up the stairs.

Once more, she watched on as the small teen made his way up the stairs. She hoped the boy would eventually get over the fear that had been ingrained into him by his relatives all this time. They had done so much damage to him, something she had witnessed just now in this room when he'd thought she would banish him from their lives. She had seen it in his eyes. The fear of abandonment. With the help of her husband and family, she planned on making that fear disappear forever.

…………………………

Harry stood outside Ron's bedroom door much like he had stood outside the front door only moments ago, wavering in his determination to go through it. Once again, the option was taken out of his hands as the door suddenly swung open and there stood Ron before him. He looked downtrodden and lost and Harry felt his heart suddenly pick up speed in his chest.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled out as quickly as possible, feeling like he needed to get it said before he lost his nerve.

"For what?" asked Ron, his own voice sounding dull.

"For running out like that," answered Harry. "I shouldn't have. I should have stayed and talked this through with you, but I was too confused," he said softly. "Still am, actually."

Ron nodded. "I can see that," he answered just as softly.

"Can we sit down and talk?" Harry wasn't really waiting for an answer and made his way back to his bed. When Ron sat across from him, he started asking questions. "Why me?" he couldn't believe the question had come from his mouth, but he was curious nonetheless. "Out of all the guys in Hogwarts, why on earth would you pick me?"

Ron just stared at the other boy with a look Harry couldn't quite put his finger on. "Because you're Harry, that's why. You're strong, honest, brave, incredibly brave," he whispered, "and you're quite possibly the most gorgeous creature I have ever set eyes on," he said quickly for fear he wouldn't be able to get it out otherwise.

Harry's eyes widened remarkably at these words, shock and disbelief clear on his face. He couldn't stop his head from shaking in denial of what Ron had just said. It wasn't true, and he couldn't understand why he would even think that about him. He knew he wasn't good looking, why lie about it?

"You are, Harry. I know you don't think so, but I do. And I'm not the only one," he muttered under his breath, but Harry wasn't sure what that meant.

"You're my best mate. You're the only one I think about. You mean more to me than anyone else ever has," he said softly. "But if you don't feel the same way about me, I'll understand. I don't want to lose our friendship over this, Harry. Please tell me you don't hate me."

"I don't hate you," he said without hesitation. "You're my best mate, too. I'm just not…sure about this," he tried to explain, pointing a bit wildly with his hand at the both of them.

"Well, I don't expect you to jump into a relationship with me right away or anything," he muttered self-consciously. "I wasn't even sure you would even feel the same way. I'm walking blind into this whole thing, just like you, but at least I know how I feel."

Harry could only stare. "I'm sorry Ron, I'm just not sure. I mean, I care about you, but I don't know if it's just as best friends or as something more," he stopped suddenly; seemingly unsure of what he wanted to say. Ron wished his friend wasn't so flustered that he was tripping all over his words. "I'm not used to this type of thing!" he finally blurted out.

Ron understood. It had been a long time before Harry had even experienced what caring was all about, not since he'd been a toddler at least. He didn't know how to distinguish one from the other. Knowing and experiencing caring and love was still a new sensation to the boy and Ron didn't want to scare him off before he'd really had a chance to show Harry how he truly felt.

Ron instinctively stepped forward to give Harry a hug, but the smaller of the two backed away and raised his hands. "Please, don't push me," he whispered and rubbed his hands up and down his arms as if he didn't know what to do with them.

Shocked, Ron stood completely still. "I was only going to give you a hug," he said quietly, beginning to realize Harry might not reciprocate his feelings. His pain must have shown on his face because Harry looked utterly horrified by what he had said.

"I'm sorry, I just thought…" he trailed off. It was obvious between the two of them exactly what he had thought.

"What, that I'd force myself on you?" he asked, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

Harry balked. "You know I wouldn't think that of you!" he yelled, irritation coming through in his own voice.

Ron took a deep breath. He knew he was falling back on the old standby. If Harry started to figure it out, fight with him. It wasn't working this time though because Harry already knew.

"Do you feel anything for me?" asked Ron so suddenly that Harry had to pause a moment to catch up with the conversation. One second they were in the beginning stages of an argument and the next second Ron was asking him how he felt about the red-head.

"I…" he faltered.

"You don't, do you?" Ron seemed like he'd already figured it all out but Harry was still as confused about it all as he'd been in the beginning.

"How the hell should I know? You've given me what…five minutes to decide? Give me a break, Ron! I'm still trying to figure this out!"

Ron took a slightly unsteady step forward and came precariously into Harry's personal space. "Can I try something then?" he asked cautiously.

"Try what?" asked Harry, his face a mask of disbelief with a shadow of rebellion waiting to come forward. He thought he might know what Ron was going to do and he wasn't sure if he was going to allow it or not.

"This," he whispered, and leaned forward. He gently wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and pulled the smaller teen against him before brushing his lips against Harry's.

Harry hesitated at first. It was extremely strange having his best friend's lips pressing against his own. But, as Ron pulled him closer he found himself leaning his weight against him and relaxing into the kiss. It was slow and gentle and couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but it was the nicest feeling Harry had ever experienced. He blinked his eyes open, having never even realized he'd closed them, and stared up into Ron's eyes. "How was that?" asked Ron.

Harry smiled shyly. "It was nice," he whispered. Ron's smile completely lit up his face and Harry returned it with a small smile of his own. As he stared up at Ron he realized this probably meant he felt the same way about Ron as Ron felt about him. He smiled again. Apparently they were going to start figuring this thing out together.

…………………….

The End

(maybe)


	2. Clash

Harry sat in the train compartment by himself, leaning back against the seat and reading a book he'd brought along with him. He'd known that neither Ron nor Hermione would be able to sit with him due to Prefect duties. He had been a little disappointed at first, considering his and Ron's newfound relationship, but he knew Ron couldn't shirk on his duties just because he wanted his boyfriend to sit with him on the train ride to Hogwarts.

Harry sighed. It seemed so strange to be referring to Ron as his boyfriend. He'd been worried about what Hermione and their other friends might think of their relationship, but when they'd told Hermione she had been perfectly fine with it. In fact, and it wasn't as surprising as it should be, she'd already known they'd liked each other. He should have known that she would have figured it out before even they did. Maybe if he'd only gone to Hermione in the first place, all of their fighting from the month prior could have been avoided.

His wandering thoughts were interrupted as the door slid open. Harry glanced up, hoping it might be Ron having a moment to slip away to come and see him, but it wasn't. Neville poked his head inside the door and smiled happily at Harry.

"Hey, Harry! Mind if I sit with you? All the other compartments are full or filled with a bunch of Slytherins. I'd rather sit with you, if you don't mind?" he asked, and was already pulling his trunk in behind him before Harry even had a chance to answer him.

"Sure, Neville," he patted the seat across from him. "You can put your trunk by mine," he motioned, and Neville nodded before shoving his in directly beside Harry's.

Harry wouldn't have denied Neville a seat, but he was kind of disappointed that he wouldn't get a chance to be alone with Ron when the red-head finally got a chance to come and see him. He sighed and turned back to his book.

"Did you have a good summer break?" asked Neville when the quiet apparently became to much for him. Poor Neville didn't have a book to read to keep him occupied, so Harry sat his down and made a more valiant effort to pay attention to his friend.

"Sorry, Neville, I did have a fairly good break," he replied, not mentioning the beginning or his subsequent encounter with his Uncle. Nor his arguing with Ron once he'd gotten to the Burrow. Otherwise, his summer break _had_ been pretty good. "How did yours go?"

Neville smiled, "Oh, it was brilliant. My Gran actually let me do something I wanted to do for once. I got to go to a seminar on Herbology. It was actually really interesting. You probably would have enjoyed it too, Harry," Neville continued on, but Harry really couldn't understand what could have been so interesting about a seminar on Herbology, but he wasn't going to say that to his friend.

"You sound like Hermione," Harry thought to mention and Neville blushed. "I think she would have probably enjoyed going to that a lot more than I would have."

"Yeah, probably," the bigger boy replied, and Harry thought he saw Neville's blush deepen. He thought that was very curious, but didn't have a chance to think on it much further when the door slid open again.

Harry looked up, hoping again it would be Ron, but as fate would have it, Harry was disappointed again as Seamus stepped into the compartment and made himself a seat beside Harry.

"Hey, mate, mind if I sit here?" he asked. Harry shook his head and smiled. He was happy to see Seamus, though; even if he was a bit disappointed he still hadn't seen Ron. He wondered if this was a bad thing, that he was getting all bent out of shape that Ron hadn't been in to see him yet. Maybe he was growing too dependent. He wasn't sure how things were supposed to work in this kind of relationship and thought he should probably try to tone it down a bit.

"I got your last letter," started Harry. "Sorry I didn't get a chance to write back," he said, wanting to apologize and make sure Seamus knew he hadn't forgotten about him.

Seamus nodded. "That's alright. I figured you were just too busy or something." He knocked Harry's shoulder with his own and leaned into him a bit. "So, how was your summer break?" he asked.

Harry grinned at Neville and wondered how many times he was going to get asked this question. "It was good, and yours?"

"It would have been better if you'd been able to come and visit me for a while," he said with another shift of his shoulder against Harry's.

Harry gave him a shy smile and looked towards Neville again. "Sorry, I only had permission to stay with Ron's family."

"That's all right. I understand," Seamus was quick to reply.

Seamus shifted a bit and his leg ended up brushing against Harry's. Thinking his Irish friend didn't have enough space, Harry moved over a bit, but somehow Seamus still ended up with his leg brushing against Harry's. His attention was diverted once again when Neville cleared his throat.

"Hey Harry, why don't you come over here so I can show you some of the things I got while I was at that seminar. I really think you'd be interested."

"Longbottom, no one is going to be interested in that bloody boring crap," said Finnegan, giving the other boy a look that Harry couldn't quite understand.

"Harry might be interested!" he said defensively, motioning again for Harry to come sit over by him.

Harry wasn't sure what was going on with his two friends, it was almost as if they were arguing over him, but he couldn't fathom why.

At that moment, the door slid open once more and in walked the one person Harry had wanted to see all morning. Harry started to smile at his boyfriend but the smile was instantly wiped off his face when he saw the anger radiating off of the older boy.

………………………………

Ron wiped his sleeve against his robes once more, trying to get the nasty spit wads off his shirt. One of the new Muggle first years had decided to start a spit-wad war between his compartment and the compartment across from them. A war he happened to walk into the middle of and had been bombarded by a valiant attack of spit-wads from both sides.

_Those first years are going to be regretting that for the rest of the week_, he thought darkly. A week long detention with Filch was a punishment he would gladly dole out again.

He had decided that seeing Harry for a few quick moments would have been a nice reprieve from the hassles he'd had to endure since he'd boarded the train and had very quickly made his way to the compartment he knew the younger boy was in. He was even hoping Harry would be alone so they could get in a little private time, but when he opened the door what he saw made his blood boil.

Seamus was sitting directly against his boyfriend, rubbing his leg up against him, and Harry was just sitting there smiling. How could he do this to him?

He slammed the compartment door behind him and watched as the smile that had lit up Harry's face just moments ago completely disappear. Good, he shouldn't be smiling with that prat trying to get all touchy feely with him any ways.

"What in the bloody hell are you playing at?" he asked angrily. Harry looked genuinely confused and hurt and he faltered at yelling anymore at him. But then Seamus opened his mouth.

"What's got you so fired up?" he asked, and Ron watched with growing infuriation as he ran his hand up Harry's leg as he stood up. To anyone else, it would have appeared that the Irish boy was just holding onto Harry to get up, but Ron knew better. The little prat was trying to feel Harry up!

"You putting your hands all over _my_ boyfriend!" he hissed.

Seamus looked absolutely thunderstruck, and Neville was just looking back and forth from Harry to Ron with a look of shock and yet understanding on his face. Meanwhile, Harry just looked shocked.

"_Your_ boyfriend?" asked Seamus, standing up. "What are you talking about?"

"I believe you heard me, Finnegan. Now keep your hands to yourself!"

"He wasn't putting his hands all over me!" insisted Harry, standing up as well and placing himself between the two of them.

"Yes he was!" yelled Ron. "And you were letting him!"

Harry looked like he'd been slapped. "I was not," he said, his voice low and confused. "I was not," he repeated in just the same tone.

"I beg to differ," hissed the red-head, and Harry took a step away from Ron, which subsequently made him press directly into Seamus. Harry flinched and went to Neville instead.

"I wasn't," he whispered to Neville, and the bigger boy grabbed Harry's hand and made him sit down beside him.

"Don't worry, I know you didn't," he softly reassured the smaller teen.

Harry nodded uncertainly. Neville wasn't the one he had to convince. Harry watched as Ron and Seamus still threw words at each other, but at least they weren't using their wands…yet.

"I don't know why Harry would even go out with someone as bloody irritating as you! You don't even trust him!" he yelled. Even Seamus knew that Harry didn't realize what he'd been doing. The raven-haired boy was as naïve as they came.

"Yes, I do trust Harry! I just don't trust you!" Ron was in Seamus' face and Harry was beginning to think he'd spoken too soon about their wands, when the door opened yet again.

"What is going on?" Hermione looked furious. "I could hear you two all the way down the train car!"

Harry's face paled. "What?" his voice was unsteady and he felt it as Neville patted him gently on the back.

"Calm down, Harry, their voices were muffled, but I could still hear them, just not what they were saying" she said gently, trying to calm her friend's fears.

"I didn't want so many people to know, Hermione," he said weakly, glancing towards Seamus and Neville. "And now Ron's mad at me. Seamus wasn't even doing anything! I don't know what to do," he moaned.

Hermione was completely lost on what was going on, but she thought she could figure it out. "Seamus, Ron!" her voice lost all of its calm reassurance and went completely cold and demanding. "Sit down right now!"

There was no hesitation; both boys hit the seats as one. "Seamus, what did you do?" she asked.

Finnegan sighed and looked at Harry with regret in his eyes. "Sorry, Harry, I didn't mean anything by it. I was being a little touchier than I should have been, and I knew you wouldn't realize what I was doing. I'm sorry I took advantage of you like that," he said sadly. He felt like a complete arse. Harry looked utterly stunned.

Ron finally let his eyes fall on Harry and knew he'd done damage to the person he was supposed to protect and love. Harry was pale and shaky and just looked downright bewildered. He felt awful for accusing him of letting Finnegan touch him. He knew Harry didn't think he was attractive. He knew Harry was naïve and insecure. What the hell had he been thinking?

"Ron, what happened? Why were you throwing a temper tantrum?" she asked, her face taking on the look of deep annoyance. Ron could also see by the look on her face that she was saying something more to him that only her eyes were conveying. _Why would you hurt Harry like this? You know better!_

Ron sighed; he was already disappointed in himself. And with another look at Harry, he wished everyone else would just get out of the room and let him have some time with him. He had to apologize, make Harry realize he did trust him and care about him. Ron could only imagine how timid this must have made Harry feel towards himself and their relationship. Merlin, he was going to be kicking his own arse for the rest of his life for this.

"I came in and let myself jump to conclusions," he said, trying to look Harry in the eyes to let him know he was sorry, but the boy wouldn't even look in his direction. Damn.

"Okay?" said Hermione, her voice letting Ron know she needed more information.

"I saw Finnegan," he glared at the other teen, "brushing his leg up against Harry, and then he rubbed his hand up Harry's leg when he was standing up. It made me mad," he said softly.

"Harry didn't realize that Seamus was doing it on purpose, Ron," Neville butted in for the first time to add his two cents. "He even tried to move over to give him more space. He just thought Seamus was trying to get more room or something. But, Seamus just got back in Harry's personal space."

Harry smiled shyly at his friend's defense of him. He honestly hadn't thought his Irish friend was doing anything out of the ordinary. He really needed to wake up to reality.

Ron sighed and finally caught Harry's eyes. "I know that. I'm sorry I doubted you," he said softly.

Harry glanced down but muttered an answer. "That's okay."

"I promise to think twice before I come storming into a situation again, okay?"

"Okay," whispered Harry, still staring down at the floor so all Ron could see was his love's long eyelashes.

"Seamus, Neville, would you two join me out in the hall for a moment?" Hermione left no room for opposition, just stood up, grabbed each boy by the material of their shirts, and dragged them out of the train's compartment.

Ron smiled at her in thanks as the door quickly shut behind them. As soon as he knew they had walked further down and were no longer within hearing range, he got up and crossed to Harry before kneeling down in front of him. Harry was still staring at the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said, reaching out carefully to take Harry's hands. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Harry. I swear I didn't."

Harry nodded, but still didn't look up. The red-head gently took Harry's chin and coerced him until he finally looked up and met Ron's gaze. The emerald eyes he stared into were slightly glistening with unshed tears and Ron seriously wanted to kick his own arse. "Harry?"

"I didn't know what he was doing, Ron, I swear," he said as if he still didn't think Ron believed him. "I wouldn't have let him if I'd known."

"I know, I know," he reassured, brushing off the tears that had fallen with his thumb. "Please don't cry."

"But you looked so mad," he said uncertainly and Ron could see something else shining in his eyes. For a moment, he had scared him when he'd come through the door. He'd been afraid of what Ron would do, not to Seamus, but to him.

"I would never hurt you," he said adamantly. Ron knew there was one more person whose arse he wanted to kick other than his own. Vernon Dursley. Too bad the ministry had gotten involved when his Mum had stayed behind that day to take care of business at the train station. The ministry had gotten the Muggle police involved and Dursley was sitting in a prison cell somewhere right now for child abuse and child endangerment. He wasn't sure how long that would hold, considering it was the Muggle law enforcement, but he hoped the man wouldn't be getting out anytime soon. He hated the man for what he'd done to Harry and for what he'd done to Harry behind closed doors that they still didn't even know about. He knew there was more that Harry just wasn't telling them.

Harry looked down again despite the hand still resting on his face. "I know."

Ron was painfully aware that Harry did still in fact doubt him, and that hurt more than anything else. He'd just have to gain Harry's trust again. "We're almost to the train station, you should probably get your robes on, okay?" he said softly. He already had his on considering he was a Prefect.

"Yeah, okay," Harry stood up and started digging through his trunk to pull out his robes and then quickly pulled them on over his muggle clothes.

Ron could tell he was still shaken up by what had happened earlier. "Hey," he said, and very cautiously pulled Harry into his arms. He wasn't sure how Harry would react to being held, but he was going to try. He thought the younger teen might try to pull away but all he did was stiffen up when Ron pulled him up against him. "I am sorry if I scared you earlier," he whispered in his ear.

After a few moments, Harry finally relaxed and leaned into Ron's strong hold. "I'm sorry, too."

"Don't be, I was the one being an arse. I should have known Seamus would try something like that, and I should have warned you. I've known he's wanted to snog you since last year," he confided.

"What?"

Ron grinned into Harry's hair. "He used to talk to us about you all the time. It used to make me so jealous!"

Harry smiled shyly and finally glanced up at Ron. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Why do you think I'd always fight with you when you'd reply to those letters?"

Harry eyes widened as understanding seemed to finally wash over him. "Oh," he smiled again. "I wish you'd just told me that's why you were getting all upset over that. I had no idea why you'd get so mad. It was all just really confusing. I'm glad you finally told me."

"So am I," he whispered and bent down to take Harry's lips in a gentle kiss. He vowed never to make Harry doubt him again because he knew he couldn't stand to live a day without Harry by his side.

………………………………….

Seamus watched stoically through the pane of glass as Ron and Harry shared a kiss. He knew he shouldn't be standing there watching them doing something that was so private, but he couldn't help himself. And even though he'd told himself he had to leave Harry alone, he wasn't so sure if he could. He'd wanted Harry long before Ron ever came into the picture, and by all rights Harry should be his, not Ron's.

Seamus knew something was wrong with his way of thinking, but he didn't care. He was going to have Harry one way or another.

………………………………….

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A/N: Well, so much for a one-shot! This story is now a writing in progress. I'm thinking it'll be about 5 chapters long. Nothing too horrendously long and I hope to post a chapter every week…hope is the key word.

Please let me know what you think about this story.


	3. A Falling Out

Chapter 3

When Harry walked into the Great Hall their first night back, he knew someone had heard the fight between Ron and Seamus. At least, that was the first thought that popped into his head when everyone in the entire Hall turned and stared at him. Ron was already seated at the table and looked rather anxious. If it wasn't their secret that everyone was currently whispering about, then he didn't know what else he could have done in the short time it took him to get inside.

The closer he got, the quieter everyone became until silence permeated the Great Hall. Harry felt his face redden in embarrassment. They knew, they had to know. For a moment Harry felt like he might throw up. He shot Ron a questioning look, hoping the older teen would somehow let him know that the entire school didn't know their secret. No such luck. The intense feeling of nausea returned with a vengeance and Harry was quite literally considering running from the room, but didn't want to come off as a complete arse in front of everyone.

After what seemed like an eternity to Harry, he finally made it to his seat and slid in between Ron and Hermione. "What's going on?" he asked, still feeling the piercing eyes of everyone in the room boring into his back. He tilted his head towards his boyfriend with wide eyes.

"They know," whispered Ron and Harry could tell he was intentionally not leaning any closer to him. That stung.

Harry shot Hermione a look. "I thought you said you couldn't hear what they were saying!" he hissed.

Hermione looked flabbergasted and irritated at Harry's accusation. "I couldn't hear what they were saying!" she hissed in return. "I could hear them yelling, but I couldn't understand them," she said, her voice softening at the look of terror that was slowly creeping across Harry's face. A lot of the students were giving the two teenagers looks of disgust.

"Just ignore them, Harry. It's none of their business anyways," she said, turning and glaring at anyone who happened to catch her eye.

"Easier said than done," he muttered, keeping his head lowered and refusing to meet anyone's eyes. He could hear some of his dorm-mates trying to get his attention, but he studiously ignored them. He didn't think he could feel more horrified than he did at that moment. He thought he could have dealt with it better if Ron would just acknowledge him, but he wouldn't. He kept looking at anyone but Harry, as if that would make the other students think they weren't going together. Harry tried not to growl.

He dared a glance towards the head table where all the teachers were sitting but none of them seemed too interested in the drama unfolding down at the student's tables. He assumed that Dumbledore would know what was going on because the man knew everything. At least he didn't seem to care one way or the other.

Feeling eyes practically burning a hole in the back of his head, Harry turned around to find out who it was. Of course, it had to be Malfoy, who else would it be? And to further increase his horror at the situation, Malfoy yelled across the room, "Oi, Potter! Is it true? You're _seeing_ the Weasel?" He spat it at Harry as if it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard or seen and Harry felt his face flame.

Instead of gracing his rival with an answer, he turned around and ignored him. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Everyone was laughing now, or still giving him dirty looks. And, he noticed for a brief moment, that Seamus looked awfully smug. He stared hard at him, but the look he had thought he'd seen was no longer there. He could only assume he'd imagined it, considering all the other looks being thrown at him. He shyly returned the encouraging smile Seamus was currently giving him.

Of course, Ron chose that moment to finally look at him and saw the smiling between the two of them. Considering the confrontation that occurred in their compartment on the train, Harry was half expecting another explosion of egos, but he did nothing but glare at the teen across from him. Seamus glared back and Harry sighed for about the millionth time that day.

Quietly eating his supper, he determinedly sat through the sorting and when it seemed he'd lingered long enough to seem natural, he stood up and walked from the Great Hall. He was still embarrassed and truly pissed at Ron at the moment. It was eating at him that Ron would hardly acknowledge him and was basically ignoring their relationship as if it didn't exist. It hurt worse than he thought it would.

"Harry!"

He turned around and stopped at the top of the stairs so Hermione could catch up with him. "Are you okay?" she asked gently, placing a hand on his arm to try and comfort him.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and continued walking to his dormitory. As much as he'd been looking forward to seeing Ron earlier, it was the exact opposite now. He wasn't sure he was even going to be able to sleep in the same room with him tonight. "No," he finally answered his friend's question but refused to meet her eyes. "Everyone knows, and now they hate me. And Ron!" he threw his hands up in frustration. "He won't even look at me! I guess I'm not as important to him as he made it out to be. We never should have started this. He doesn't even like me, apparently!"

It took a lot of self restraint not to scream.

"Harry, that's not true! Ron is just…well, he's Ron. You know how he is. He didn't even want to tell you that he liked you. Imagine how he's feeling now that the entire school knows," she explained cautiously.

"I know exactly how he feels! I feel the same way! It's utterly horrifying. You know I never wanted anyone to know, at least not until I was more comfortable with the whole thing, and now everyone does! I had issues letting you know! I can't believe this is happening," he moaned, and ended up sitting down on the step beneath him as he felt all the energy leave his body. "Why does this shite always happen to me?"

"Harry, it's not that bad. From what I could tell, a lot of the Gryffindors are behind you and Ron. They're you're friends, and so long as you've got them you, don't have anything to worry about. We can handle the rest together!"

"How can we handle this when Ron isn't even in this with me? There isn't any use for a 'we' if there's not going to be anything between Ron and myself!" he nearly started yelling, but stopped himself again. His frustration at the entire situation was tearing him up inside. "I'm afraid he's going to stop what we've got going together. He's not going to want to see me anymore now that everyone knows. He's too embarrassed or ashamed of me, or something!" he said, his eyes started burning and he rubbed them viciously. He wasn't crying over this crap.

"He's not ashamed of you, Harry," she said gently, rubbing his back reassuringly.

"Then why wouldn't he even look at me in the Great Hall? If that's not ashamed, I don't know what is," he muttered, his voice was sounding a little too emotionless for Hermione's liking.

"Stop it, Harry. It's the first day back; you're just going to have to give things some time. Let him figure out how he's going to deal with this, okay? Just give it some time. If he's still acting like a jerk in a few days, you have my permission to kick his arse, okay?" she said, and Harry couldn't help but give her a small grin.

"Yeah, okay," he said and grabbed her hand when she offered it to pull him up. "I just hope he figures things out fast."

"So do I," Hermione murmured, and Harry knew he wasn't supposed to have heard it. He kept quiet and the two walked the rest of the way to their dormitories in a relatively comfortable silence.

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As soon as Harry entered the common room, he parted ways with Hermione and fled to his dorm where he hoped to avoid anyone, especially Ron, for a while so he could at least calm down. He wasn't in his room for more than five minutes when the door opened again. Harry let out a frustrated groan from behind his pulled curtains and pulled his pillow over his head. Hopefully, it was just one of the other boys and not Ron.

Again, his luck failed him. "Harry?"

"Go away Ron, I don't want to talk to you!" he said, and pulled the pillow tighter down around his head. He hoped Ron would leave soon, because he was finding it rather difficult to breath under there.

He heard the curtains being pulled back and then returned to their original position as he felt the bed dip down under Ron's weight. He sighed.

When he felt Ron starting to rub his back he flinched away from the touch. Ron immediately removed his hand. "Harry?"

"Just leave Ron. I said I didn't want to talk."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I wasn't expecting the entire world to know that we were seeing each other the second I stepped into the Great Hall. It was a shock. I didn't know what to do!" he yelled, frustration dripping from his voice.

Harry flung the pillow off his face and flipped over in bed. "And you think I did!?"

Ron sputtered, seemingly thinking that yes, Harry would know.

"You wouldn't even look at me, Ron! If you were trying to get everyone to think we weren't a couple that was about the worst way to go about doing it! Honestly, your blatant denial of it would have just made them all realize you were hiding it!" he yelled, his frustration taking over him now.

Ron's mouth was hanging open and his hands were clenched into fists by the time Harry had finished yelling at him. He was about to say something when the curtains were pulled back and their conversation interrupted.

"Could you two be any louder? If we hadn't known the two of you were a couple when we first came in, then we certainly do now," said Dean, grinning at the two of them.

Harry gave Ron a significant look.

"How'd you find out anyways?" asked Harry, curious to know what got the whole thing started. "Did you hear Ron and Seamus on the train?" he honestly couldn't figure out how else anyone knew unless they'd heard them fighting.

"No," Dean gave Ron a curious look. "Why were you fighting on the train?" he asked, but the look in his eyes made Harry think he had already figured it out.

"You know why!" insisted Ron, glaring significantly at Seamus' empty bed. "He was trying to get up close and personal with Harry and I walked in on it. You know how he is. He was talking about Harry all last year. I guess he finally got up the courage to act on it."

Dean nodded his head in acknowledgment. "I figured."

"But if you didn't hear them arguing," interrupted Harry, "then how did you find out about it?"

"Well, the rumor had already started when I came into the Great Hall. I figured it was Malfoy at first, but he didn't find out until Zabini told him. I heard him start laughing when he found out," he said slowly, almost apologetically that he was discussing this with them. "He's a prat."

"Then who started it?" he wondered aloud, not really interested in what Malfoy thought of their relationship.

"Not sure, mate," muttered Dean. Neville came into the room then, with Seamus following on his heels. Neville was watching Ron and Harry apprehensively.

"You two okay?" he asked, and it was no wonder he was curious. Anyone could have picked up on the tension radiating off the two of them still.

"Yeah," muttered Harry. He was still angry at his supposed boyfriend, but he was willing to let it go for now. He grimaced when he saw that Ron was glaring at Seamus again. It was going to get really old if this became an everyday thing. Smacking Ron, he turned towards the two new arrivals. "Do either of you know how the news of our," he waved his hand at Ron, "relationship got out?" he asked. "I mean, as far as I know, the only ones who knew were those of us in the train car," he said, suddenly wondering if either of them had let their secret out.

"No clue, Harry. I'm thinking someone must have heard us earlier when we were fighting," Seamus offered. "People were talking about it when I came in."

"I know I didn't say anything to them," Neville defended himself. "I don't know how it got out, Harry, sorry," he said apologetically. "I wouldn't have told anyone, though."

"I know, Nev," he reassured his friend, but he still wondered how it had gotten out in such a short period of time. He glanced at Seamus again, remembering the smug look that had graced his face earlier, but dismissed it. Seamus wouldn't do something like that. He was their friend.

It wasn't long before everyone was getting into their pajamas and getting prepared for bed. Harry brushed his teeth, washed his face, and then headed back to his bed. He glanced at Ron, seeing he had gotten finished before him and was already in bed. Ron smiled uncertainly at him, so Harry smiled shyly back. Their relationship was sort of at a stand-still at the moment, and neither was certain how things were going to progress. If they'd still been at the Burrow, Ron would have kissed him good night. But that wasn't going to happen tonight, he knew, so he climbed into his bed, pulled the curtains, and tried his hardest to fall asleep. It was a long time in coming.

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The next morning, Harry was shoving his Potions text into his bag and threw the strap over his shoulder, when he heard someone coming up behind him. Turning around he came face-to-face with Finnegan. "Hey," he said in greeting, before turning back and heading towards the door. He was running a little late as it was.

"So, what's going on with you and Weasley?" he asked, falling into step with the smaller teen.

Harry glanced up at him with a look of incredulousness on his face. "I thought that was pretty clear?" he said, not sure what Seamus was asking.

"No, I mean, are you two fighting or what?"

"Oh, well, I'm not sure," he answered, though it wasn't much of one. "I think we might be taking a break from each other…" he trailed off. "I'm just not sure. We haven't really talked about it, but judging by what happened yesterday in the Great Hall, I'm beginning to think it just isn't a good idea to be seeing each other."

Seamus nodded. "I assumed as much," remarked Finnegan, smacking Harry on the back companionably. "I'm sorry things aren't working out for you two."

Harry shrugged sadly. "Yeah, me too."

There was still a few minutes left to drop by the Great Hall and get a bite to eat, but Harry didn't want to deal with any of the students who might be still eating, so he continued down towards the dungeons. Seamus followed him, occasionally brushing his shoulder against Harry's. The smaller teen glanced at Seamus, but the Irish boy kept walking as if he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Harry brushed it off and hurried into the Potion's classroom.

He considered sitting down with Ron, but wasn't sure if Ron would want him to.

"Do you want to sit with me?" asked Finnegan, as if seeing the debate in Harry's eyes.

Harry contemplated it, and it was probably the fact that it would make Ron flaming pissed that made Harry decide to do it. "Sure," he answered with a small smile, and went to sit down with his friend at the table directly behind Ron and Hermione.

Ron did a double take when he saw Harry sitting with Seamus behind him. He looked like he wanted to tell Harry to get up and come sit with him and Hermione, but knew if he did it might bring up things that he wasn't ready to admit to. Although it was obvious he didn't want Harry sitting with Finnegan, he didn't do anything about it.

Harry sighed. In a way, he had been hoping Ron would get jealous and make him move up with them. Seamus looked at him with a smile.

The rest of the class passed in relative quiet. At least they didn't have Potions class with Slytherin. He knew they would have taken any chance possible to rag him about his sexuality and whatnot. It was only a matter of time before he had to deal with it from them, but he'd take what he could get.

As everyone else was leaving the classroom, Harry was still jotting down his homework assignment. He'd been so caught up in his own thoughts he'd nearly missed the fact that they had any. Ron had started to stay behind, but when the other students started whispering, he grimaced and walked from the room.

Shaking his head, as Harry had seen what had happened, he quickly shoved the rest of his belongings into his bag and his shoulders slumped in defeat. This simply wasn't going to work out. He felt his eyes tearing up again but quickly wiped them away when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"All right there, mate?" asked Seamus, he'd stayed behind without Harry realizing it.

"Yeah, fine," he whispered, quickly wiping his eyes. "Just got something in my eye," he added when he saw the way the older teen was looking at him.

"Sure you do," he muttered, his thumb coming up suddenly and catching a tear as it slid down Harry's cheek. Harry hadn't even seen him move and was therefore a little startled when Seamus was suddenly cupping his face with his hand. "Everything's going to be okay," he said, and his thumb moved from his cheek to brush against Harry's bottom lip.

Harry didn't like it. He stepped back and turned his face away from the older teen. "We should go," he said in a sudden rush, grabbed his bag, and walked out the door. He hoped there would be other students in the hallway still, as he was a little uncomfortable by what had just happened.

"I'm sorry, Harry."

Seamus was suddenly by his side again, and Harry tried not to groan. There weren't any other students in the hallway, which meant he was all alone with Finnegan. Not that he couldn't handle himself or anything, but it would have made things easier if there were witnesses. Seamus didn't seem quite as inclined to touch him unless they were alone.

"I don't know what came over me. I just wanted to help you," Seamus actually sounded contrite.

Harry looked up at him and saw that he did look genuinely sorry. "Its okay, Seamus, I just wasn't expecting that. You know Ron and I are…well, we're something. I still have feelings for him, even though we're going through all this shite right now. I just…" it was hard to put into words without hurting Seamus' feelings, but he really wished he'd stop touching him.

"You'd like me to give you some space?" asked Seamus.

Harry could work with that. "Yes."

"I'm sorry if I've been too pushy, but you know I've had feelings for you too," he said sadly.

Harry nodded, he did know. But, there wasn't a whole lot he could do since he didn't return those feelings. Seamus seemed to understand that because he finally backed off and started walking again. Harry fell into step beside him.

The rest of their walk back to the Gryffindor tower was spent in relative silence. Harry thought he could detect a bit of hurt coming off of Seamus, but he didn't know how to make it go away. He liked Seamus, but just as a friend, he couldn't even imagine anything more with him. Ron, on the other hand, meant so much more to him. He missed him.

"What class do you have next?" he asked, just to break up the awkward silence that had settled over them.

Seamus glanced over at him before answering. "Um…Ancient Runes, I think. But not for another thirty minutes," he answered quietly.

Harry nodded. "Hermione will be in there with you then. Ron, Neville, and I have Transfiguration," he added when Seamus didn't answer him. He thought he saw a dark look filter across the Irish boy's face at the mention of Ron, but again thought he had imagined it. But, the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Seamus was jealous of Ron. He wasn't sure how he hadn't figured it out before.

In some weird way, it made Harry feel good that Seamus and Ron were both so jealous of the other…and it was all over him.

When they finally went through the portrait and stepped into the Common Room, Harry saw that Ron was there pacing in the middle of the floor. He stopped when he heard them and gave Finnegan an evil look. _If looks could kill_, thought Harry.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

Harry was a little stunned that he was bringing this up in front of all of Gryffindor practically, but let it go. If it took getting Ron insanely jealous over Finnegan to make him finally acknowledge that Harry existed again, he would let it happen. He didn't care what everyone thought of them, so long as he and Ron could be together.

Ron took one long look at Harry's face and rounded on Seamus with a fury in his eyes that Harry had never seen before. "What the hell did you do?" he spat, suddenly in Finnegan's face.

Shocked at the sudden rage in Ron's eyes, Harry quickly interceded before someone got hurt. "Ron!" he yelled, "What is wrong with you!"

As if they weren't surrounded by all their friends, Ron very gently took Harry's face into his hands and made Harry look up at him. "You've been crying," he said softly, and Harry felt his face flame up. But then Ron was glaring up at Finnegan again. "What'd you do to him?" he asked again, his voice completely cold.

Harry shivered. "Ron, he didn't…"

Seamus cut him off. "I didn't do anything to him, Weasley. Maybe you should look in the mirror if you want someone to blame!" he yelled. "You're the one who's been hurting him!"

Ron looked stunned. "What are you talking about? I haven't laid a finger on him!" he yelled, and realized that most of their friends were now glaring at him. "I haven't hurt him, I swear!"

Harry was standing there in the middle of the room looking flabbergasted. He had merely assumed everyone would be ashamed of their relationship, but they weren't. And now with talk of Ron or Seamus having hurt him, they were rallying around him. Harry sighed. This was so screwed up.

"Guys," he started, but he was once more cut off.

"I don't mean physically you imbecile," said Seamus, "but you're doing a great job at doing it emotionally."

Harry had to agree with that. Hermione came forward and wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Should I interfere?" he asked softly, trying not to tense up at the unexpected touch. It was quite a different experience than what he was used to and found it was rather nice once he let himself relax. He had started to grow more accustomed to people touching him, such as his friends and their families, but he still found himself tensing out of anticipation of being struck. This was, of course, a reaction from the lifestyle he had been forced to lead when he'd lived with the Dursely's. Thank Merlin he didn't have to go back there this summer.

"I'd let them work it out between them," she said just as softly. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not sure how I am, actually. All of yesterday and today has just been so hard and confusing. I still don't know how things are going to work out between Ron and me, and now Seamus is starting to get all physical with me. I just don't know what to do," he said, leaning back into her comforting embrace.

"Don't worry about it, Harry. Ron loves you even if he's too scared to admit it."

"But it would be nice if he could admit it," whispered Harry.

Hermione nodded against his shoulder. "I think this is sort of his way of showing it," she motioned towards Ron and Seamus, who were still yelling at each other. Dean and Neville were now in the fray, but they were just trying to separate the two of them. Harry glanced around and noticed that most of the other students had discreetly left the room. Thank goodness for that.

"He's got a really weird way of showing it."

"That he does, Harry," she said. She gave him another hard squeeze and then let him go. "Come on, we should go ahead and go to class," she said, and started pulling him towards the door.

"What about Ron?" he asked, feeling extremely bad leaving him to sort things out with Seamus.

"Let them handle it. I think once they're done, Ron is going to want to talk to you. Seeing you with Seamus has really torn him up," she informed him.

Harry couldn't help but feel good about that. "He should," he muttered petulantly.

Hermione grinned. "Come on then, I'll walk with you to your class."

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Seamus saw Hermione and Harry leave the Common Room and watched a bit detached as Neville and Dean tried to calm down Weasley. This hadn't exactly worked the way he'd wanted it to. He'd hoped Harry would feel something more for him. That obviously wasn't the case, as he was shown earlier in the Potion's classroom.

The fight he'd hoped to start with Harry and Weasley just now didn't work either. He'd at least hoped to get Harry to realize that Ron was just hurting him, but he didn't see it like Seamus did. He sighed and glared coldly at the red-head in front of him. Since coercion hadn't worked, he knew he'd have to try something different.

He left his three dorm-mates standing in the common room and headed for his next class. He could still feel Ron's glare on his back as the door closed behind him.

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A/N: Well, Seamus is turning into a bit of a freak, isn't he? And I actually like Seamus, I'm not sure where this came from…

Many thanks go out to Nita, my beta-reader! Without her and my lovely reviewers, this story might not have gone on!

There are still at least 2 chapters left. Look for chapter 4 next week!

Please let me know if you like this story by reviewing! Thank you!


	4. Row

A/N: I had a reviewer, tati1, express that the scene where Hermione wraps her arms around Harry wasn't quite believable. So, I've taken tati1's suggestion and changed a bit of that scene in the last chapter. Hermione is still hugging Harry, but Harry is giving a bit of an explanation for it as well.

I've also had some reviewers say that they think Harry is being too girly. I've been trying not to let that happen, but it seems it is. Basically, I've realized I'm not using the cannon Harry here; I'm more or less using the Harry from my previous series Somewhere I Belong and even Broken Dreams without really realizing it. I'm so used to that 'Harry', that it's hard to switch back. I really had Harry broken into a million pieces in both those stories, quite frankly. I'm not sure how this Harry is going to turn out, but try not to be too disappointed if he acts 'girly' in some scenes. I'll try not to, but I can't guarantee that I won't!

Thanks and enjoy, I hope.

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"What are you doing?"

Harry glanced up from his homework assignment and gave Ron a slight smile. "I'm trying to finish this essay," he mumbled, waving his hand towards the mass of books he had piled on the library table.

"But why are you in the library and not the common room? Wouldn't it be more comfortable?" he asked, sitting down in the chair opposite the raven-haired teen.

Shrugging, Harry put his quill to paper and finished jotting down a sentence before looking up again. "It was the noise in the common room that actually made me escape to the library. It's much quieter here, obviously."

"Ah, true. Are you coming up soon? I thought we could spend a little time together tonight," he said slyly, and Harry just shook his head at him, smiling. Since the Seamus fiasco in the common room nearly a week ago, Ron had started showing more attention to Harry, even in public. It had been hard at first, but Ron hadn't wanted to lose Harry over something so stupid. They wouldn't make out in front of everyone or anything, but they had gotten to the point where they wouldn't go out of their way to hide it either.

Harry was very happy about the change.

"I can't, I've got to finish this essay. It's due tomorrow, and you know Snape will kill me or force me to test some vile potion if I don't turn it in," he replied and continued writing.

Ron sighed and nodded in agreement. "Okay, so that's also true, but come on Harry!" he pulled on the smaller teen's arm and nearly made the ink smear across the paper. Harry whipped his arm out of Ron's grasp.

"RON!" he yelled, "You almost ruined my essay!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Ron yelled back.

Harry sighed. He hadn't meant to yell, it just sort of came out of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate that you had or anything. Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad. I just wish you'd come and spend some time with me. With us. Hermione misses you too, you know. I've tried to be more open with you this past week, and I know you've been busy, but it seems we've hardly seen you!" Ron propped his head up in his hands and stared longingly at his boyfriend with an impish grin. "Come upstairs?"

"And what do you propose we do?" asked Harry, grinning back.

"Oh, I don't know…we could go to our dorms and kick out the other guys for a bit," he said suggestively and Harry started laughing outright.

"And you want to do all this with Hermione too?" he asked. "I don't think she misses me that much, Ron."

Ron smacked him on the arm and started laughing along with him. "Uh, no. I don't think Hermione would appreciate that anyways."

Harry raised his brow and shrugged his shoulders. "You never know…" he trailed off, stifling a grin at the look on Ron's face.

"She would not! Merlin, that's just wrong." said Ron, still trying hard not to laugh. The two of them gathered Harry's things and left the library, joking all the while.

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Seamus angrily put the book back on the shelf where he'd grabbed it when he'd seen Harry sitting at the table doing his homework. He had seen the smaller teen working on his potion's essay and knew just which books he would need for it. He'd finished his own ages ago. His intention had been to help Harry with his work and maybe show the boy he could be more than just a friend. Unfortunately, that wasn't how things worked out.

He'd had a plan and Weasley had ruined it. The little prat kept showing up right when Seamus was about to make his move. It was like Weasley knew just what he was thinking and when to show up to ruin his moment with Harry. He tried to suppress the growl but it came forth any way. Madame Pince glared at him dangerously and he quickly snuck out the doors where the woman could no longer see him.

He knew he was going to have to up the ante if he had any chance of capturing Harry's attention before all hope was lost. Weasley and Harry were getting closer and closer with each passing day and he couldn't stand for it. Harry was supposed to be his. Not that prat, Weasley. Something had to be done, and he was the one who would do it. He had to break them up. It was the only way.

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Instead of going back to the Common Room, Harry and Ron ended up out by the lake. They wouldn't have long before curfew but Ron had wanted to have some time alone before they had to deal with everyone else. Although he'd been doing a better job at showing his feelings in front of people, he still preferred to have some time in private with Harry. Not everything had to be public.

Harry glanced down when he felt Ron's fingers interlace with his own. He looked back up to try and glimpse Ron's face, but he was purposefully keeping his attention on the rippling water. Harry grinned and gripped Ron's hand tighter. This was a new development. They'd never really held hands before. This was one of the things that Ron had been uncomfortable with at first. Showing any affection at all had been hard. It was just so strange for him to do it with Harry. Had it been a girl, he knew it wouldn't have been so awkward.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while. Harry was content to just stand there all night if he could do it with Ron. He was finally happy. It was still a little strange that he had found this happiness with his best friend of all people, but he wouldn't take it back for anything.

"We should get back inside," he told Ron with a squeeze of his fingers. He would have originally thought it would be an odd sensation to be holding hands with a guy. But it wasn't. He rather enjoyed the feel of Ron's strong fingers wrapped in his own.

"Yeah, we'd better before we get caught out late."

Harry agreed. Snape would be out patrolling soon and he definitely didn't want to get caught by him. They'd be scrubbing out cauldrons for weeks, especially since he was pretty sure by some of the blatant looks he got from the man that he didn't agree with his and Ron's relationship.

As they stepped into the school, the strap on Harry's bag started to slide down his shoulder. He slung it up higher and as he did his books somehow managed to fall out of his bag.

"Damn," he muttered and crouched down on the floor and started shoving all his school things back into it. It was then that he noticed his essay wasn't in his book where he'd put it when they'd left the library. "Ron, my essay," he looked up and glanced at his watch. "I think it's in the library. You go on ahead. There's no sense in the both of us getting caught out late."

"Harry, I don't care if we get caught. I'll come with you."

Harry shook his head, though it was nice that Ron was willing to potentially get in trouble just to come with him to get his essay. Not that Ron hadn't done the same type of thing in the past, but now it seemed just a little bit…nicer.

"Listen, Hermione will be wondering where we are. At least go let her know we're on our way back and not out doing something we shouldn't. And grab my invisibility cloak while you're at it."

Ron agreed with that and immediately took off down the hallway. Once he turned a corner and was out of sight, Harry headed for the library. He still couldn't believe he'd left his essay there. He'd been sure he'd put it in his Potion's book when they'd left.

The library was dark and he couldn't see Madame Pince anywhere when he first opened the doors. This was actually a good thing. He'd been worried she'd send him straight to Professor Snape if she caught him coming into the library after curfew. The table he'd been sitting at earlier was illuminated by a sliver of moonlight coming in through the window. Even from the doorway he could tell his essay wasn't there.

He went to search it anyway, just in case the damn thing was lying on the floor or had somehow gotten blown off the table and onto a chair when someone walked passed. No such luck, the essay was nowhere to be found around the table. He even tried Madame Pince's desk in the hope that she'd picked it up when she'd been cleaning up for the night. If she had, it wasn't on her desk, and all the drawers were magically locked. He couldn't open them, not even with his wand. He'd just have to come back tomorrow morning and ask her before classes started.

"Potter!"

Harry spun around, his heart racing in his chest, and accidentally dropped his bag on the floor once again that evening as the sound of his voice echoed in his ears. "Seamus! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he said. He kept his hand against his chest as if that could slow it down. "What are you doing here?"

"I found this out in the hallway and saw you in here. I figured it was what you were looking for."

Harry nodded. He couldn't figure out how he had missed it on his way in, but guessed he had. "Thanks mate, I was really starting to worry that I'd have to write the thing again."

"Yeah, you were looking pretty stressed there for a minute when I first walked in," he said, handing Harry his essay. His fingers curled with Harry's and lingered there after he'd placed the papers in the smaller teen's hands. He glanced up at Finnegan's face and tried to pull his hand away. It had been nice when he and Ron held hands but this just felt wrong. He didn't like it. Everything Seamus had tried to do always felt wrong, Harry realized.

"I-I've got to go," he said and yanked his hand out of Seamus' grip. "We're going to get in trouble if we don't get back."

He hoped Finnegan had some sense of self preservation when it came to getting in trouble with the teachers, but he just glanced at the door and shrugged. "I saw Snape down towards the dungeons earlier. He won't be up this way for another thirty minutes yet."

Harry frowned. They'd walked passed the dungeons on their way back inside the castle and hadn't noticed Snape or Finnegan. It was slowly dawning on Harry that Finnegan had been following them. He and Ron must have just missed Snape. He felt a shiver go down his spine at the thought of Seamus watching them as they'd been walking around the lake and even following them around the castle. It was a bit frightening.

"Well, stay if you want to, but I'm going back to the tower," he knew he sounded a little harsh, but he didn't care. Seamus was really starting to bother him. But when the bigger teen wrapped his hands around his upper arms and slammed him against the wall he started to panic. "What are you-"

He was cut off as Seamus kissed him. Hard.

It was difficult, but he managed to twist his head away. "Seamus, stop!" he yelled, pushing against his chest to get him off. This was when having a smaller stature absolutely sucked. It wasn't long before Finnegan regained the upper-hand and he was pinned against the wall again with Seamus' body pressed firmly against his own. Just as he was being kissed again he heard a gasp coming from the door.

Suddenly he was able to push the bigger teen off of him and he saw Ron standing in the doorway. He knew this looked bad. "Ron, this isn't what it looks like," he said.

"Oh, I think it's exactly what it looks like," Ron said angrily. He was glaring daggers at both himself and Finnegan.

Harry gaped. "Ron!"

"Just stop, Harry! If you've wanted Finnegan all along why did you even act like you wanted me? This is the second time Harry! How many times do I have to catch you in the act before I figure it out, huh?" he said, his voice and face a picture of self depreciation. "I can't believe how stupid I've been."

"Ron, it's not like that, I swear!" he desperately didn't want to lose Ron. Especially not over this, he hadn't even done anything wrong. "You've got to believe me!"

"I've seen and heard enough," Ron's voice was defeated. "You deserve each other."

When he turned and walked away Harry nearly broke. He spun on Finnegan. "This is all your fault!" he yelled. Before he knew what was happening he had pulled back and punched the Irish bastard straight in the face. "Stay away from me, Finnegan! If you touch me again, I swear to you that you'll regret it," He'd never meant something more in his life.

By the time Harry got into the hallway, Ron was long gone. He sighed in defeat. The day that had started so wonderful had just turned to absolute shite. He heard a moan and turned back to see that Finnegan was starting to get up. Like a light turning on, Harry suddenly realized that this had been planned. The entire thing, from Harry's bag spontaneously spilling all of his belongings onto the floor to Finnegan's sudden appearance with his essay.

Seamus must have accio'd his essay when everything had fallen out of his bag and then come to his 'rescue' when he'd gone to look for it in the library. That's why he'd been following them. Probably looking for the perfect moment to make his move.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he asked when Finnegan finally made it to his feet, a trail of blood running from his nose down to his lip. "You've ruined everything. Why?" he asked, the confusion and pain coming through loud and clear in his eyes.

"You and Ron don't belong together, Harry. Don't you see that? You and I have always been meant for each other. Now that Ron's out of the picture you don't have to pretend anymore. We can be together."

Harry was stunned. "Finnegan," he said slowly, "I think you need help."

The narrowing of Seamus' eyes had Harry taking a step back. "I don't need help!" he spat. "I just need you. I love you!" The lust that suddenly appeared in Finnegan's eyes as he moved forward had Harry reacting.

Within the blink of an eye Harry had his wand out and pointed at Finnegan's chest. "Stay away from me, Seamus. I don't even like you, let alone love you! You're sick, Seamus. You need to get help."

Seamus looked like he might cry at Harry's words, but Harry couldn't find the strength to give a damn that he'd just hurt his feelings. He'd just destroyed everything that Harry had cared about. He'd brought this all on himself. "Stay away from me," he said once more before fleeing the library. He had to try to talk to Ron, to explain Finnegan's sick plan. He'd understand once he explained it all, but only if Ron's insecurities would let him.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Seamus angrily wiped the blood off his face. He couldn't believe the way Harry had just treated him. They were supposed to be together, so why did he want to go back to Ron?

He stormed out of the library. All his attempts to sway Harry to his side had failed miserably. And if he couldn't have Harry, neither could Ron.

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When Harry got back to the Common Room it was mostly empty. All except their friends. He looked around but Ron wasn't in the room. He did spot Hermione though, and he knew then that he was in for it.

"What's going on?" she asked heatedly. "Were you really snogging with Seamus in the _library_?" she said it as if the library was holy and what they'd been doing was sacrilegious. Only she would think that way about the bloody library.

"No!" he yelled instantly.

"Then why is Ron so upset? He said he caught the two of you in a very compromising position, Harry. You can't exactly fake that type of thing you know," she said. Harry hadn't ever seen her look so upset with him. And that was saying something.

"That's not true! He kissed me and I certainly didn't return it."

"Why didn't you tell him to bugger off then?" asked Dean.

"It's kind of hard to do when he'd suctioned his mouth onto mine and had me pinned against the wall!" he said angrily. "Where's Ron?" he asked. He was done with the interrogation.

"He's upstairs," Neville told him.

Harry nodded to him and walked away from them. He couldn't believe his own friends didn't believe him. He couldn't believe his own boyfriend didn't believe him. Granted, he had been found in a pretty bad situation, but Ron should have just known. It should have been obvious that he hadn't even wanted it. Right?

"Ron?" he asked as he slowly opened the door.

"You know what Harry; you can just leave me alone. I'm going to bed."

Harry watched with dismay as Ron wouldn't even look at him and just climbed into bed before pulling the curtains shut tight. He felt his eyes tear up but roughly wiped them away when he heard the other boys come in behind him.

Without looking at his friends and without another glance in Ron's direction, Harry went to his bed and hurriedly starting changing into his pajamas. A sudden thud from behind him had him turning in curiosity. Neville had dropped a book on the floor, but no one was looking at the book, they were staring at him.

"What?" he asked self consciously. He knew he wasn't anything to look at, but he didn't think it was very nice of them to stare at him so openly.

"Harry…what the hell are those?" Dean asked angrily.

Harry sighed, wondering what they were talking about. What could he possibly have done wrong now? But then he finally followed their line of sight and realized what they were staring at with such avid fascination.

"You weren't kidding when you said he had you pinned against a wall, were you?" asked Neville heatedly.

His upper arms where Seamus had grabbed him and held him against the wall were now discolored and were bruising from the tight grip. Harry embarrassedly brought his arms up and tried to cover the signs of how he was hurt from his friends. Then he heard the curtains being pulled back and Ron's angry growl.

"I'm gonna kill him!" he hissed.

Harry just shook his head and angrily pulled on his pajama top. "Now your angry?" he asked. "It would have been more helpful when he was actually attacking me but you just walked away!"

It was obvious by the looks on all their faces, especially Ron's, that while Harry had been getting assaulted, Ron had just stood there and then left Harry to his own devices. He hadn't helped him at all.

"Harry…I-I didn't know. I'm so sorry. Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry I left you with him," he said, his voice filled with utter anguish. "He didn't…" he trailed off, uncertain how to say what he needed to. "After I left you…did he do anything else?"

"No."

"Harry," Neville stepped up, clearly thinking Harry was lying. "If he did something –"

"He didn't do anything to me. I, on the other hand, punched him in the face," he said, his voice filled with malice. "And told him if he ever touched me again he'd regret it. I think he finally figured out that I don't want him at that point," he glared at Ron. "Too bad the person I do care about can't seem to figure that out."

"Harry," Ron tried to talk but Harry just couldn't deal with it at the moment.

"Look Ron, I just need some time, okay. Just leave me alone tonight and we can talk tomorrow. Tonight, I'm just so tired. Okay?"

Ron agreed reluctantly and even went so far as to follow Harry to his bed as if to make sure he made it there safely. When Harry gave him a slightly irritated, if not affectionate, look, Ron finally went to his own bed but kept the curtains open this time. He wouldn't fail Harry again. And he wanted to keep a look out for when Seamus came in. If the little bastard tried to hurt Harry again, he certainly would regret it. When he looked up, he saw that Neville and Dean had apparently had the same idea. None of them had any intention of letting Finnegan get anywhere near Harry.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHHP

A/N: Okay, I'm terribly sorry for the delay. I had trouble writing this chapter and even now I'm not sure if I like it. Sorry!

Seamus is definitely a bastard in this chapter. And, I'm sure some of you were probably wanting to kick Ron's arse when he walked away and didn't believe Harry. But don't worry, Ron won't falter again. I don't think so, at least.

There is possibly only one chapter left. I'm not sure yet.

I hope Harry didn't seem as girly in this one. If he did, sorry, I can't seem to help it. It just sort of comes out that way, though I did try to make Harry more like himself in this chapter.

Please review.


	5. The End of Fighting

Though Ron had stayed up most of the night to keep an eye out for Seamus, it seemed he hadn't had to worry. Finnigan never came back in their room that night and it was something they were all happy about. None of the boys really knew how to feel about what Finnigan had tried to do to Harry. He was supposed to be their friend and yet, he'd tried to hurt Harry. Seamus was no longer the friend they once knew.

In the following days, Seamus avoided his dorm mates at all costs, even going so far as to skip classes if it appeared he'd have to sit in the same area as them. He ate his meals before everyone else got there and left as soon as students starting coming into the Great Hall. He had found out early on that almost everyone in Gryffindor knew what he'd tried to do. At least, the ones who mattered to him knew. His best friend, Dean, wouldn't even look at him. But what hurt the most was Harry. He would glare at him whenever they met in the corridor or in their common room. He started spending every waking moment with Weasley and wouldn't even glance Seamus' way if he happened to walk through. It was devastating to the Irish teen. And it made him angry.

Harry opened the doors to the Great Hall just as Finnigan was walking towards them. He was leaving, as he always did when the others were coming down to eat, but hadn't managed to make it out before Harry and his friends showed up. Ron put a protective hand on Harry's shoulder and glared at Seamus. Harry completely ignored the other teen's presence and walked past him. He could feel Finnigan's eyes boring into his back as he made his way to the table, but tried to ignore it.

He was glad Seamus was avoiding him, quite frankly, but even that was beginning to feel a little strange and awkward. He didn't like the way the older teen kept looking at him. He especially didn't like the looks he gave Ron, like he wanted to hurt him or something. When they reached the table, Harry collapsed into his usual seat and scooped a spoonful of scrambled eggs onto his plate. They were having pumpkin juice this morning, so he poured himself a glass. Ron sat beside him and soon Neville and Dean joined them.

"Did you see Finnigan this morning?" they asked when they sat down across from Harry and Ron.

"Yeah. You?" Ron was curious, considering Finnigan had left just a moment ago, whether or not they'd seen him.

"I think I saw him heading outside. At least, it looked like him from a distance," replied Dean. He glanced towards the doorway and sighed. "Sometimes, I miss him. Or, I miss the way he used to be," he quickly justified his words at the look Ron was giving him. "I don't understand what's happened to him."

"I don't either. I never would have thought he'd turn out the way he has. I mean…what he did to Harry was just horrible. I'd never have imagined he'd try to do that to you," said Neville, glancing at Harry as he spoke.

Harry just nodded and lowered his head. He didn't like it when they suddenly brought up what had happened that night. Although he'd defended himself rather nicely, he thought, it was still embarrassing when it was brought up. He sighed as he pushed his fork through his eggs. He wasn't hungry in the least, and even felt a little nauseous, actually.

"Well, at least Harry was able to kick Finnigan's arse," said Ron a little quietly. He still felt downright awful about all that had happened that night. He'd apologized countless times to Harry for how he'd walked away from him, but he could tell his boyfriend was getting a little annoyed at how everyone was acting around him.

"Yeah, that is actually saying something. Finnigan is a pretty good fighter. I was sort of surprised when you told me you were able to get a punch in. His father taught him how to fight when he was younger…boxing, I think."

Harry nodded. He'd heard Finnigan talking about that too, once. "I think you're right. But, I guess it just took him by surprise."

As the conversation went on around him, Harry took a long sip of his pumpkin juice. He thought it tasted kind of funny, but just figured it was because he wasn't feeling well. His stomach was really starting to bother him and the need to just go lay down for a while was becoming more and more appealing.

"Guys, I think I'm going to go back to the common room. I forgot one of my books," he lied, standing up to leave. He hoped if he could just lie down for a while before classes, he would feel better. "I'll see you in Transfiguration, okay?"

Ron didn't look too thrilled. "Maybe I should walk you," he said, starting to get up.

Harry frowned. "No, you haven't even finished your breakfast. Just finish eating and I'll get the book myself. It's okay, really."

"Yeah, the last time I left you to go get something by yourself you got attacked. I don't plan on making the same mistake again."

Mentally groaning, Harry knew he wouldn't get Ron to back down now. And he couldn't lie down without Ron asking him what was wrong and hovering over him like a bloody mother hen. He decided to try and make it through morning classes and try to skip out after lunch if he still didn't feel well.

With his plan decided, he told Ron that he'd get the book later since he wouldn't need it until later that afternoon. They went directly to class, but any hopes Harry had had that he'd start to feel better started to drift away as the day progressed. He'd started out just feeling slightly nauseous. But on top of that, he now had a headache that kept pounding within his head, he was fairly certain he had a fever, and he felt weak and shaky.

Lunch time was quickly approaching and Harry was about to the point where he didn't care if Ron was hovering over him. He did not feel well at all. When class ended, Harry grabbed Ron's arm to stop him. "I need to go lay down," he whispered to his friend.

Ron took one look at Harry's pale face and nodded. "Okay, come on," he agreed, and concerned, he took Harry by the arms when he started to sway as he stood up. "Damn, mate, you really don't look good. Let's get you upstairs and in bed."

Harry couldn't disagree and leaned heavily against his boyfriend as they started out of the classroom.

"Maybe we should go to Madame Pomfrey instead, Harry. You really feel warm." Ron could feel the heat coming off of Harry, even through his clothes.

"No, I just need to lie down. I think I'll be okay if I could just lie down for a little bit."

Ron wasn't really convinced but he didn't want to fight with Harry on the subject either. If things got worse, he'd take Harry to Pomfrey no matter what. Kicking and screaming if he had too, though it didn't look like Harry had the strength to fight him on it if it came down to it.

They made it to the portrait of the fat lady just as Hermione was walking out. She also took one look at Harry and was immediately on his other side to help support him and offer whatever comfort she could.

"Harry, you look awful. I bet you've gotten the flu, haven't you? It's been going around."

Harry just nodded. He was pretty sure he had gotten something, be it the flu or just a really bad cold. The last few days he'd just felt dizzy and slightly anxious, but now he just felt absolutely awful. "I thought it was just a little cold, but it's gotten worse now."

Hermione just clicked her tongue in sympathy. "You should have come to us. We could have helped."

"I'm not used to having help when I'm sick. I handle it by myself. I always have."

Ron and Hermione both gave each other angry looks over Harry's head. They both knew why Harry had always had to handle his illnesses on his own and neither was happy about it. They planned on correcting that in the future, however, because Harry would never be going back to his relatives.

"Here we go, get into bed," instructed Hermione. She fluffed the pillows and pulled the covers up to Harry's chin. "Do you want us to stay with you?"

"You have class, Hermione," Harry pointed out to her. He was very surprised she would even suggest skipping classes just to sit with him.

"I realize that, but if you need me, I'd be more than happy to stay."

Harry smiled at her. "I think I'll be okay, but thank you for offering. I feel better just by laying down. I think I'm just going to try and get some sleep. But, if I need you, I'll send Hedwig, okay?"

Hermione nodded before pulling the covers up more snugly around her friend. She couldn't help the almost motherly way she was treating him. She felt like she should somehow make up for all the times he hadn't had anyone to take care of him. It wasn't an obligation or anything, but something she felt she had to do and wanted to do. Once she had tucked Harry into the bed so thoroughly he almost couldn't move, she felt secure in leaving the room. "I'll be up to check on you later."

Harry grinned tiredly. "Could you un-tuck me a little? I'm having difficulty breathing," he laughed.

Ron grinned in return and pulled the blankets out a bit. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks," he replied as he turned onto his side to better face the red-head. "You don't have to stay either. I really do just plan on sleeping. And, you can't afford to miss any classes."

Ron just groaned. "My grades aren't that bad."

"Yes, Ron, they are," he said with a small smile. "Really, I don't want you failing a class just because you stayed up here with me. Go on, I'll be fine."

Ron still shook his head. "I don't feel safe leaving you here by yourself. If Finnigan came in and decided to finish what he started earlier, then you wouldn't be in any condition to defend yourself," he said adamantly.

Harry sighed. "I could defend myself," he said indignantly.

"Yeah, what would you do? Vomit on him?"

Harry grimaced. "That's gross," he said, swatting Ron with his hand. "But, it would do the trick, don't you think?"

Ron laughed. "Probably so, but just the same, I'd rather stay here."

"I've got my wand and the power of vomit. I'll be fine. Now go. Seriously Ron, you can't miss any classes or you won't pass."

Ron sighed irritably but finally conceded. "Fine, but I also expect an owl if you need anything. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now shut up and go to sleep."

As Ron left the room, Harry did precisely that.

Hphphphphphphphphphphphphphphp

When Harry next woke, he thought he was feeling a little better. There was a glass of water sitting beside his bed and he took a small sip. He grimaced as it went down his throat and put the glass back on the table. It tasted a little brackish and made a mental note to ask Ron to get him a fresh glass when he came back. He sat up and made it to the bathroom with just a small spell of dizziness. He hoped this cold would only last for a few days and as he was starting to feel better, he hoped it would do just that.

He took a drink of water from the faucet and then washed his face and teeth. He felt better once he'd done that and went back to his bed. He'd made it halfway across the dorm room when a wave of disorientation struck him. He started to go down when he felt strong arms wrap around his waist and help him the rest of the way down.

"Harry, are you okay?"

Harry groaned internally when he realized who it was. He didn't figure Finnigan was here to finish what he'd started, but wasn't about to take any chances. Quickly, he grabbed his wand from his back pocket and grasped it firmly in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I just came to get a few things. I've been trying to stay away from you. I've felt so awful for what I tried to do, Harry. I can't tell you enough how sorry I am," he said, but Harry thought it lacked conviction. The look in his eyes was just wrong and he didn't believe him for a second.

"Yeah, well, I'm too tired to deal with you right now, Seamus," he said weakly. He started to get up but when he felt Finnigan put an arm around his waist again his entire body stiffened. "I don't need help," he said roughly, pushing the arms away from him. "Just go."

Seamus' eyes darkened and he stood up angrily. "Fine, stay on the damn floor! See if I care!"

Harry glared at him even as he was trying to get up. He felt extremely vulnerable with Seamus standing over him while he lay on the floor.

The floor tilted dangerously underneath him as he made it to his feet and he was just starting to tumble back to it when he once again felt Finnigan's arms wrap around him. They weren't gentle this time either, but rough. "If you had just let me help you in the first place!" he spat angrily as he threw Harry onto his bed. As his stomach rolled, he really thought he was going to be sick. He almost laughed at the idea that he really would be defending himself by vomiting all over the other teen.

He was just turning and struggling to point his wand when he heard it.

"You son of a bitch!"

Well, Ron was back.

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Ron was very carefully balancing the tray of food in his hands. "Could you get the door?" he asked Dean.

Dean nodded and opened the door for them. Neville carried the pitcher of pumpkin juice that Dobby had gotten for them in his hands. When the door slid opened, his mouth dropped at the sight of Harry getting tossed onto his bed by Finnigan.

If any doubt had remained that Seamus had just gotten a little too frisky with Harry and things had merely gotten out of hand, those doubts were quickly vanished as they saw how he was treating their sick friend. Harry could barely hold his wand up, but he was trying. And then Ron's shock wore off.

"You son of a bitch!"

The tray Ron had been carrying clattered to the floor as he tackled the Irish teen. They both hit the floor with a thud. Ron had his hands wrapped around Seamus' throat despite Finnigan's efforts to throw him off. All of his anger and despair was focused on the boy beneath him. He'd let Harry down, something he'd promised to never let happen again. He knew he shouldn't have left him alone. He just knew it! And look what had happened.

"If you hurt him, so help me," he gritted through clenched teeth.

Dean and Neville both had to struggle to get Ron off of Seamus, but they finally managed it. Once that was accomplished, Neville took out his wand and pointed it at the person he had thought was their friend for so many years.

"How could you?" he asked venomously. He glanced at Harry and saw that he was slumped bonelessly against the bed. Had they not come in when they did…he didn't even want to think about it.

"What is wrong with you?" asked Dean, his taller frame towering over Finnigan. "He's your friend! I thought we were all your friends! What the hell did you think you were doing?!"

Seamus was glowering. "It's not fair!" he yelled. "I had feelings for him first! You all knew that!" he glared pointedly at Ron. "But you had to go after him, didn't you?! Didn't you! He was mine to have! I wanted him first!"

Dean was struck speechless for a moment. Then he started yelling. "Harry is not a prize to be won! He was not and never will be yours! He is not something you own, Seamus!" Dean just didn't know who this person was anymore. "What is wrong with you?" he asked again. "This isn't you."

Seamus threw his hands in the air. "You don't even know who I am! You don't even care that I lost the one person I love. All you care about is Ron! Harry was supposed to be mine! He took him from me!"

Neville was glancing between all of them with an angry expression on his face. "There you go again! Get it through your head, Seamus! It doesn't matter what you want or that you think Harry was supposed to be yours! He's not, and just because you think he's yours doesn't mean you get to force him! He loves Ron…don't you care what Harry wants?"

Seamus shook his head violently. "Of course I care!" he yelled, though his movements were belying his words.

"Then what the hell were you just doing?" asked Ron.

"I was helping him onto the bed. He was dizzy," he said defensively.

"No, that wasn't helping him. You were throwing him!" yelled Dean. "What were you going to do once you had him on the bed, huh?"

Seamus looked at Harry then, who was blissfully unaware of what was going on around him. But, the look was enough for the three other teens to know exactly what he had planned on doing.

Ron tried to advance on him again, but Dean and Neville quickly grabbed him. "No, Ron, you can't. You'd just get yourself in trouble!"

"I don't care!"

"Harry wouldn't want you to do it, Ron. And he needs you! So knock it off, all right? I know you're pissed, we all are, but you can't go off like this. You have to calm down." Neville tried to be the voice of reason though he was having trouble not hexing the little prat himself.

Ron finally shook them off. "I'm calm!" he said through clenched teeth.

"Sure you are," muttered Dean.

"What's going on here?" asked a female voice from behind them. They had apparently attracted a bit of an audience with Hermione and Ginny standing in the doorway. "Is everything okay?" she asked. She caught a glimpse of an unconscious Harry lying in an unnatural position on the bed and then she saw Finnigan. Ron had told her what had happened that day in the library and judging by the look on Ron's face, she could only assume the worse. "Finnigan!" she screeched, advancing on the larger boy with an entirely too frightening look on her face. "To the headmaster, now!" she grabbed his arm and started to lead him from the room.

At first he tried to throw her off, but she instantly cast a spell that made him unable to move anything but his legs. "Walk or I swear I'll drag you through the castle."

He behaved after that and Ron and company watched as she led him from the room. Neville was never more happy to see him go. He'd thought for a moment that he was going to have to keep Ron from killing him.

"Harry," they turned as one to see Ron kneeling on Harry's bed trying to rouse him. "Come on, Potter. Wake up," he whispered.

Harry's eyelids fluttered repeatedly before finally shooting open. He sat up quickly and glanced around the room. When he realized that Finnigan wasn't in the room and that it was just his friends standing there with him, he started to relax. Then his stomach finally rebelled and he ended up throwing up all over the edge of his bed. "That could have come in handy earlier," he muttered. Another dizzy spell had him nearly passing out again until he was finally able to lie quietly against the bed and gain control of himself.

"Mr. Potter?"

Harry glanced up at his name and saw Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway.

"Are you quite all right, Potter?" she asked concernedly as she moved across the room to his side. "I was just called into the headmaster's office and learned of what has been going on," she said, her voice suddenly going strict as she glanced at the other boys. "Why was I not informed of this attack on Potter?"

"It's not their fault, Professor. I asked them not to tell," Harry said quietly, trying to defend his friends. He really hadn't asked them, but it had been an unspoken request. They all knew he didn't want it getting out that Harry Potter had been nearly sexually assaulted by another guy.

"This is not the type of thing you should keep to yourself, Mr. Potter. You should have come to one of the Professors. We would have done something immediately with Mr. Finnigan. We do not condone that type of an assault on any person in our school."

Dean looked up. "Is he being suspended or expelled?" he asked.

"Expelled," she said briskly. "Again, we do not tolerate that type of behavior. This is why it should have been brought to our attention immediately. This second attack could have been avoided," she said, her brows lifted knowingly. "In future, I trust you won't keep this type of behavior to yourselves?"

"No, ma'am. We won't."

"Good. I must get back to the headmaster now. He'll need my assistance when we contact Mr. Finnigan's parents," she paused on her way out. "Ms. Granger informed me that you weren't feeling very well, Potter. Take this. It should make you feel better," she had instantly pulled a vial from her pocket. "Drink it up," she encouraged.

Harry quickly downed the nasty potion and without thinking grabbed the water that was still on his bedside to wash away the nasty taste with. He took three deep swallows and grimaced. He'd never had a chance to get Ron to pour him a fresh glass.

"Do get some rest, won't you?"

Harry merely nodded.

As McGonagall rushed from the room Harry lay back down against the pillows and pulled the covers up around him. When he felt the mattress depress behind him, he turned to see that Ron was actually getting in beside him. He looked at Ginny, Neville and Dean in surprise, but none of them seemed to care. He was honestly surprised that Ron was making such an active affectionate move in front of their friends. As Ron wrapped his arm around him, Harry rested his head against his boyfriend's chest and felt his eyes drifting closed. He felt truly safe and was asleep within moments.

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"Harry, wake up!"

Harry moaned and tried to push the hand that was actively shaking his shoulders away. He felt awful. The potion McGonagall had given him apparently hadn't worked as well as she'd hoped.

His headache had increased and the nauseous feeling had more than doubled. He groaned as he tried to push the persistent hands away. "Go 'way," he grumbled, but talking only made him feel worse. He whimpered in distress as he leaned over the side of his bed and was sick for the second time. He couldn't remember who had cleaned up after him the first time, but he hoped whoever was annoying him now would do it for him.

He tried to roll over and go back to sleep but the hands were suddenly back and were again trying to shake him awake. "No, Harry, you need to wake up," it said, and it was the utter fear and worry he heard in the voice that made him fight the weakness and dizziness that were trying to drag him back under.

"What?" he asked confusedly as he finally started to come around.

"Oh, Harry, thank Merlin. Are you all right dear?"

Harry glanced up once more in confusion as the voice started to filter into his groggy brain. "Mrs. Weasley?" he asked in shock.

"Yes, darling. Can you wake up for us?" she asked, and her voice held such a hint of desperation Harry couldn't help but to try and obey. He couldn't figure out what was making her so upset, though.

"I'm 'wake," he said groggily and struggled to sit up. The vertigo that struck him then was so strong he nearly fell off the bed. Someone grabbed him, though, and held him in their arms.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, trying to hold onto his head as if that would make the room stop spinning.

"You've been poisoned, Harry," he couldn't be sure but he thought that was Madame Pomfrey. Then what she said finally made sense and his head shot up. He regretted it a moment later though, as he was once more vomiting all over whomever was holding him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he whispered dejectedly. He was about to get up to help clean up his mess when he felt someone take his face in their hands.

"Stop it, Harry. It doesn't matter."

Harry glanced up in surprise to see that not only was Mrs. Weasley there, but so was Mr. Weasley. And it was Mr. Weasley in fact who was holding him.

"I was poisoned?" he asked a moment later when he realized he wasn't going to get in trouble for being sick.

"Yes," said Pomfrey as she rushed around the hospital wing. "That ungrateful boy," she muttered and Harry glanced at her in confusion.

"Huh?" he asked. He wasn't sure who she was referring to.

"We shouldn't be discussing this right now," said Mrs. Weasley, her voice sounding firm and Harry wasn't about to try and force the issue. He didn't have the strength any ways.

"Here, I need you to drink this, Potter."

Harry warily took the vial she held out before him. "McGonagall gave me a potion earlier, but it didn't help. I just feel worse now."

Pomfrey shook her head. "Yes, she's very apologetic about that, but she had no idea that you had been poisoned. Had you truly been suffering from the flu that potion would have had you right as rain in a matter of hours. But, the ingredients in the potion and the poison running through your system interacted rather badly and made you deathly ill instead. It was a lucky thing that your Mr. Weasley brought you to me when he did."

"Oh," he said rather blandly. He'd almost died. What a shock.

After he took the potion, he did start to feel better. The nausea was the first improvement he noticed. When he didn't feel like he was going to vomit all over the world and his headache was lessened to a mere ache, he finally relaxed. "I feel better now," he said softly to Mrs. Weasley. She had been hovering over him since he'd woken up, and he thought she'd probably been doing it long before that even.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I'm so upset that Ron didn't contact us immediately with what was happening with that Finnigan boy. I'm so angry I could spit!" she said heatedly.

Harry grinned. "Spit?"

"Oh, hush you!" she said lightly. Then she surprised Harry by pulling him into a gentle hug. "Ron told me what that boy tried to do," she said softly. "And he told me that he walked away."

"It's okay; he didn't realize what was happening. Please don't be upset with him," Harry implored.

"I'm not upset, just disappointed. It hurts me that he could see you in that type of situation and not realize that you wouldn't do something like that to him. I know how loyal you are to him, Harry."

Harry nodded. "Don't hold it against him. He really didn't know, and with how jealous he can get sometimes, it shouldn't have surprised me."

"He should have known," insisted Molly and her tone was firm. Harry knew better than to argue.

"Did Seamus poison me?" he finally asked. He'd assumed, but he wasn't sure.

She sighed deeply. "Yes, darling, he did."

Harry didn't know why, but he was surprised. "He did?" he asked, his voice plaintive. "Why?" he shook his head as he realized he shouldn't have to ask. "He hated me that much?"

Molly shook her own head then. "No. I don't know what happened, but he was sick. He had that thought process that if he couldn't have you no one could," she said softly. "You don't need to worry about him anymore. They're going to get him help. His parents are having him admitted to a hospital that helps specifically with disorders of the mind."

Harry could only stare at her. "It's my fault."

"No, Harry. You didn't turn him into what he became. He did that all on his own. Just because he thought he had feelings for you doesn't mean anything. Don't feel badly about this Harry, he tried to hurt you. You have no reason whatsoever to feel badly."

"But, I still do."

"And if you were anyone but Harry, I wouldn't be surprised. But please, try not to dwell on it. At least he's getting the help he needs now. And you don't have to worry about him any longer."

Mr. Weasley had stayed out of the conversation up to that point, but he took Harry's hand at that point. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling better now. Thank you."

"I'm sure Ron is dying to see you by this point, as well as Hermione and your other friends. We'll get out of here for a little bit to give you some privacy and then we'll get you ready to go home."

Harry was confused. "Go home?" he asked. He started to panic. "Why? I don't want to go back there. I'll be fine here!" he said, his voice rising.

"Harry, no!" Mr. Weasley grabbed his shoulders to get his attention. "Calm down, son. We didn't mean we were taking you back to the Dursleys. Don't you remember what we talked about over the summer? You're coming home with us from now on. And until you're completely better from this poisoning, you're coming home with us to rest."

Harry calmed down and looked at them sheepishly. "Oh."

Molly grinned. "So, we'll see you in a few minutes?" she asked, clearly trying to re-emphasize that he would be going with them.

"Okay."

"Good then. We'll go get Ron now."

Harry sighed in relief for a moment as he finally got it through his head that they wanted to take him home with them to get better. It was a nice feeling. Suddenly the doors were swung open and he saw Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Dean come into the hospital wing.

"Hey, mate, feeling better?" asked Ron softly as he bent down and gently kissed his lips.

Harry's face flamed. And he'd thought Ron climbing into bed with him had been a brilliant act of affection, this way more than topped that.

"Yeah, much better," he answered just as softly.

"Do we need to leave the two of you alone?" asked Dean jokingly.

Ron threw a pillow at him. "Shut up, Dean!" he yelled, but the smile on his face let him know he wasn't serious.

Hermione sighed and climbed onto the bed with them. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said suddenly.

Harry nodded. "Me too."

"So, are you feeling any more effects from being poisoned?" asked Neville. He yelped when Dean smacked him upside the head. "What?" he asked indignantly.

"He might not know yet, that's what!"

"Oh," he turned wide eyes on Harry, looking utterly stricken. "I just figured they had told you!"

"Calm down you guys, I know what happened. They did tell me I was poisoned," he said. "And they told me who did the poisoning."

"We're so sorry, Harry. I knew he was turning a bit possessive, but I had no idea he was going to stoop so low as to try and kill you!" said Dean. He'd been Finnigan's best friend for the longest time. He thought he should have known what the Irish teen was thinking, if no one else. "But to go so far as to poison your drinks," he shook his head.

Harry looked up. "That's how he did it?" he asked. "I thought that anything I had drunk had tasted kind of strange lately. Especially the water you left by my bed earlier," he mentioned to Ron.

"I didn't leave you any water, Harry. I was actually bringing you your food and something to drink when we came in right after Finnigan threw you onto the bed," said Ron quietly. "Finnigan must have brought it in," he said angrily.

Dean groaned. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I can't believe we let this happen to you. I can't believe I didn't see what he was trying to do!"

"It's not your fault, Dean," said Harry. "You couldn't have known he would do that. None of us did."

"You can't blame yourself, Dean. Honestly, it was out of anyone's control. Yours as well, Harry," said Hermione knowingly. If she knew Harry, and she did, she was pretty sure he'd be blaming himself for this as well.

"You don't have to worry, Hermione. I've already gotten his lecture from Mrs. Weasley. I felt bad at first, but she made me realize that I didn't make Seamus do what he did. He was sick."

"Yes, he certainly was," muttered Ron under his breath.

"Did my Mum tell you that you were going home with them?" asked Ron.

Harry nodded. "Did she say how long you might be gone?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I'm not sure, either. But, probably not any longer than a few days. I mean, I don't feel that poorly."

Ron grinned. "I think she just wants to keep you close for a while," then his face turned sober. "This really scared her. It scared us all when you wouldn't wake up."

Harry ducked his head. "I'm sorry I worried you guys."

"It's not your fault!" insisted Hermione. "That's enough talking about this. Harry needs to rest," she said strictly.

"That's right," said Mrs. Weasley as the doors opened and her husband followed in behind her. "And we're going to take him home now so he can get that rest."

Harry watched tiredly as Molly and Arthur got everything ready to go. He was nearly asleep again by the time they'd gotten his clothes and personal items from Ron.

As his parents took Harry's things and shrunk them to fit inside their pockets, Ron quickly snuck back to the sleepy guy he loved. "I'll see you in a few days," he said softly.

Harry smiled. "Okay," he whispered. The last thing he remembered before he was completely immersed in sleep was Ron gently pressing his lips against his forehead and the whispered words, "I love you."

Basically asleep, he muttered back, "Love you, too."

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THE END

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Okay, I know I promised not to make Harry too girly, and I might not have stuck to that too much in this chapter. SORRY! It just came out this way, but come on…he was sick and defenseless…that's not exactly girly…just that he needed someone to lean on. That's my explanation at least.

I'm taking a break from the HP universe for a little bit…unless another writing bug bites me…and I'm going to focus on a quick story in regards to the Supernatural universe. I'm so excited about it! Anyone going to be interested in reading it?

Please review.


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